The Embrace of the Sith
by Mireilles3
Summary: When Vader leaves his captured son alone with the Emperor, even 'he' can't imagine just what the cruel Sith Master has in store for the youth. Can Luke resist long enough to be rescued? Can he even be rescued this time? Or will Sidious corrupt yet another Skywalker via his emotions? Read and find out! L/V/E/Le/H/M drama, angst, family, hurt/comfort, etc. Please, R and R! Not slash
1. Chapter 1

The Embrace of the Sith

By Mireille

2000/2012

* * *

When Vader leaves Luke alone with the Emperor after capturing him, even 'he' can't imagine just what the cruel Sith Lord has in store for his son. Can Luke resist long enough to be rescued? Can he even be rescued this time? (not slash, think more... embrace of pain of the Vong...)

* * *

Good afternoon everyone!

Here is the eighth of eleven stories that I feel like writing, but can't decide which to work on first. Can you help me figure out that answer?

The story with the most readers and reviews will be my next project in the works. Since it can take a few parts before we finally get to the crux of some stories, I won't check the final tally right from the start. However, only the total of both reviews and ongoing readers will determine which story I'm going to work on first, so, if you like this one, leave a review to vote for it :)

Thanks for your help! Hope you enjoy this story as well!

If you do, please, share your thoughts :)

* * *

Disclaimers: Nothing in the Star Wars Universe belong to me; everything belongs to George Lucas. I'm only writing stories for fun.

* * *

Prologue

The mission to infiltrate the imperial base of Iridonia's rainforest had gone horribly wrong and he was now the last free member of the special intel unit. All the other men and women, every one of them picked by colonel Drayson himself, had either been captured or killed.

Only Luke's Jedi senses had given him the necessary speed to dance out of the first trap, but even his special skills hadn't been enough to save the rest of his group. In fact, he had barely been able to remain ahead enough of the imperial troops to finally commandeer an imperial speeder bike and gun away from the base.

So much for capturing the plans of the Empire's new ultimate weapon.

It had pained him to leave his allies behind but Mon Mothma herself had ordered him to save himself if it ever came to a choice, an order that had been reiterated by his mission's commander just before the infiltration expert had been cut off from his comlink.

Aware, and repeatedly drilled before the mission, that he was the most valuable prisoner that could be captured today, a prisoner that could cost the war to the Alliance if he were ever caught by the enemy, the young Jedi had reluctantly obeyed. Besides, he tried to hearten himself, someone 'had' to report the trap to the Alliance, so that was it. He 'had' to escape.

He had also given his word to Leia that he would not take unnecessary risks; otherwise, she would never have allowed him to assist the commando in their risky mission. However, just like he had estimated upon hearing the details of the mission, his sensing skills had been useful. They just hadn't been sharp enough to 'really' make a difference for those that he had ultimately failed.

Again.

And so, there he was, stranded in the middle of an unfamiliar rainforest. He would have reached civilization by now, but he had had to lose the bike much faster than he had hoped; it had been equipped with a tracking system that he hadn't been able to deactivate. He had had simply no choice but to destroy his only means of fast transportation.

Thus, he was lost, alone, without the survival gear that he had to leave behind when he had dropped his backpack for the sake of speed, and with no device to orient himself in the continent-wide forest of huge trees.

In a way, it reminded him of Tatooine's desert, if in a vegetal form. It did not reassure him much. He was simply not familiar enough with his actual environment to be able to orient himself correctly in it.

Worse, the imperials were now on high-alert and patrols of AT-ST, speeder bikes and even chariot ships had begun to search the forest for the runaway survivor.

In short, this was the most lethal game of wild cat and womprats that he had ever played, but this time, 'he' was the womprat that would be dead, or worse, if he were caught by his enemies.

Careful to stay out of sight, he hunched low to the ground and under the ferns as yet another group of speeder bikes and an AT-ST passed less than twenty meters away from him. Attentively watching them from his hiding spot, he grimaced to himself that he could 'really' use his discarded pack right about now.

Not only could he slake some of his thirst with his water tank, but his camouflage gear had been in that pack, put there for later use while his closer-fitted clothes gave him a greater freedom of movement.

If he ever made it back to the Alliance, he would tell them how 'useful' that tidbit of strategy had turned out to be.

Although dusk was settling on the forest, and even though his hair was darker than they used to be, he strongly suspected that, if anyone looked straight in his direction, it still made him quite visible through the foliage.

So did his fair-skinned face, he thought next, remembering the make-up that had been part of his mission gear. Thanking the Force that, at least, he was wearing his black uniform, he tried to use his black-sleeved arms to hide his face better.

Fortunately for him, like all the other patrols before that one, the imperials went by him without any mishap. They merely trudged on in the fern-covered ground of the rainforest.

Sighing in relief, the young Jedi waited for them to be well out of his sensing ranges before he considered coming out of his hiding place. He then stood up and silently brushed himself free of the wet moss that had begun to stick to him while he had been getting better acquainted with the mossy ground; it was threatening to give him the chills and he could really do without that right now.

He then he craned his neck and looked at still-darkening sky.

Before long, he reflected grimly, he wouldn't have to worry anymore about being visually detected. Even he would not see further than his hands because of the pervasive darkness that would soon invade the whole forest.

However, his more battle-hardened self reminded him, night time also meant that the patrols would come in the forest with infrared detection tools so as to compensate for their loss of visual range. That meant that he would have to think of a way to lower his body's temperature to that of the surrounding foliage.

He didn't know yet how he would do that, but he had to figure out a way to do it, and he had to figure it out fast.

He just 'had' to.

* * *

Perhaps an hour later, night had completely fallen over that side of Iridonia, plunging everyone and everything in complete and absolute darkness.

If not for his ability to sense the trees, the plants, the animals or the world all around him, and if he had not been able to enhance his own sight with the Force, the youth would have begun to worry that he had somehow stumbled into the heart of the Dark Side itself.

Absolutely no light whatsoever was piercing the darkness that now surrounded him; not even the light reflected off the small moon was strong enough to reach him, way under the thick foliage of the forest of giants.

Forcing himself not to dwell on his negative imagination, Luke rummaged once again amongst his memories of Yoda's lessons. His master had talked about different types of meditations that he could call upon thanks to the Force-

He physically started when his Force-senses picked up yet another approaching patrol.

This time, his danger senses also went off, tingling at the nape of his neck with their telltale signal of imminent trouble.

Hence, he considered running away from the approaching troops, but the moment that he searched for a way out, he became aware that there were other patrols all around him, forming a more or less lose noose while they methodically swept the forest for the remaining rebel spy.

Cursing, he resigned himself to remain where he was and try what he could with his meditations... However, he was growing unpleasantly aware that he was quickly running out of options. Soon, they would spot him for sure. He raised his eyes yet again toward the stars in search of inspiration and saw, truly saw, the trees above and around him.

The very tall, very high trees.

Enhancing his eyesight further with the Force, he spotted the lower branches; he estimated that they were at no less than fifty meters away from the ground.

Completely out of his reach, he pouted in disappointment- and then belatedly remembered that he was a Jedi now and that he had once managed to boost his jumping abilities when he had had to save himself from the threat of carbonite freezing.

Of course, he admitted to himself, he hadn't tried that again ever since, but at the moment, he didn't have any other option left.

He had to do it again.

Gathering his focus, he found his center of peace, visualized what he needed to accomplish, and jumped.

Faster than anyone could have seen him, not even in the daylight, he propelled himself off the ground and into the air.

Still, despite his initial success, he barely made it all the way to his target and had to temporarily levitate himself further in order to catch hold of a lower branch.

Once he had a good grip on the rough wood, he took a moment to catch his breath, as well as another moment to block off his memories of the last time that he had dangled over a vast emptiness – on Bespin. Then, once he was steady once again, he took a firmer hold of the sturdy branch and agilely pulled himself up on it.

Then, remembering that the imperials' infrared detectors could detect life forms within a radius of a hundred meters in any direction, he hurried to climb up so as to avoid the approaching sweep of imperial forces.

Sometimes boosting himself with the Force, sometimes climbing up like he used to on Tatooine in Beggar's Canyon, Luke swiftly reached a higher location where he knew that he would be safe from any wide-range detection.

Or at least, he thought so until he raised his head to evaluate how high in the tree he now was and saw an unfortunately familiar shape detach itself from the shadows up there.

At first, he couldn't believe his own eyes, accepting without any doubt that his imagination was playing tricks on him- but then he heard the dreaded noise of 'his' respiration and he realized that whether it was impossible or not, Vader had somehow followed him all the way to his current refuge.

"You are full of surprises, indeed, young Skywalker," the other declared seriously as he jumped down from the branch where he had been seemingly waiting for him. "But then so am I."

Instantly stricken with fear, as well as aware that he couldn't make any sudden move or else he'd fall down from his precarious perch, Luke pushed himself upright against the strong bole of the gigantic tree even as his right hand went for his lightsaber, which he 'never' left behind. "Stay back," he retorted warningly, "or I'll jump."

The dark-clad giant seemed to shrug, but the gloom still camouflaged him most efficiently. "If it amuses you, Son," he began mock-sarcastically, "but I can assure you that you wouldn't fall very far this time."

Because he had learnt from their previous encounter, Luke understood even as he felt his stomach tighten while memories of his previous encounters with the dark Lord began haunting him yet again.

It then dawned on him that the Sith lord had somehow managed to lure him all the way to his own location, up there in the middle of the treetops. Luke grew unpleasantly aware that the older Force user was much, much more powerful than he had ever given him credit for.

"Actually," the dark Lord cut in his thoughts, implicitly informing him that he was somehow privy to them now, "I didn't lure you here."

Luke glared blaster bolts at him.

"I simply tracked you every time that you used the Force," Vader continued conversationally, "and I knew that with nowhere to go, you'd eventually seek refuge in the trees. I knew that we'd meet again, Son. My troops merely pushed you to think faster about that possible refuge."

"Great," Luke snorted in answer, "and, after Bespin, only a place with a hundred-meter drop beneath ourselves could be a proper meeting ground, right, 'Father'?" He all but sneered in disgust while the rest of his conscious mind worked as hard as it could on finding a viable way out of this undesired new encounter with the Dark Lord of the Sith.

"So, you've accepted the truth," the other seemed to jubilate.

Luke refocused on him and glowered at him. "I've accepted the truth that you were once Anakin Skywalker, my father."

"I see," the other replied, undisturbed by his defiant tone of voice. "So, how shall we continue this new chance meeting?" he demanded, taking a step closer to him and, Luke noted with increasing dread, walking as if he weren't standing on a mere tree branch.

Quenching the fear that this mere and extremely graceful movement from the other's part generated in him, Luke turned on his lightsaber and raised it in a defensive position. "I will never join you. Let me go, or you will be forced to kill me."

Vader seemed to sigh heavily at this, and then to shake his head before he, too, pulled his weapon from his belt. He didn't turn it on yet. "I do not wish to harm you again, Son."

"Then let me go, and let me be," Luke challenged him even as he tried to find his center so as to be able to use the Force to balance himself on his narrow perch.

"It is too late for that, Luke," Vader answered seriously, almost regretfully, and then turned on his lightsaber. He raised it in a ready position just opposite Luke's green blade. "Yield now, or you won't give me any other choice but to overcome you once again."

Spurred despite himself by the renewed and barely veiled threat of harm from the man who claimed to be his father, Luke forgot his fear of losing his equilibrium and used the Force to balance himself while he surged forth toward the dark man; he instantly tried to slash his head off.

How could he still threaten him that way when they now knew that they were blood relatives? How could he- Momentarily losing his balance, he completely abandoned his assault, if not his weapon, and spread his arms just long enough to recover his equilibrium; he was barely in time to parry Vader's attack from the right and at knee level.

Slightly shifting his feet on the sturdy yet narrow branch, and once again in touch with the Force, Luke agilely avoided the intended injury while he blocked the blade from coming any closer to him, and then shifted his arms and parried Vader's second attack from the left. Their two blades of light slashed right through a twisted branch that was less than a meter away and slightly beneath them, and then through smaller branches and leaves.

Their brilliant blades arced back around and back toward them, locked in a contest of physical strength. The smell of burnt and boiling sap quickly rose all around them.

Using the Force like never before, Luke reflexively balanced his body to compensate for the movements of his arms, widening his stance or twisting his body according to what the Force was making him do.

What really mattered to the youth, though, was to not let Vader win. Since he was all too aware that the Sith had no intention of killing him by accident, or to let him jump for that matter, Luke only had one option left.

He had to either unbalance the dark Lord and make him fall long enough for him to escape once again... or else he had to make sure that he could kill himself before the Sith caught on his plan.

Unfortunately, however, the darksider was almost as sturdy as a tree himself, never showing any sign of loss of balance or vulnerability. As for Luke, he was not exactly ready to commit suicide, hence was determined to fight for as long as he could. While he hadn't even hesitated before letting go of the pole on Bespin, plunging toward a certain death, he had a different mindset this time.

Indeed, whereas he thought that his life would be forever destroyed after hearing that he was, in fact, Vader's son, he now knew better. He had finally understood that his father's identity did not define who he was, and so, he really wasn't ready to die because of him.

There was too much to fight for, too much to do for the last potential Jedi to die already.

Relying yet again on the Force, the Jedi blocked yet another attack from the dark Lord's part, from above this time. He then shifted his arms and raised his weapon high and at an horizontal arc to parry Vader's next attack before he gathered his focus and pushed his father's blade up and away from him; he then whirled his weapon in a complete arc over his head so as to gather momentum for what he hoped would be an unbalancing strike against the tall giant.

He was so distracted by his goal, though, that he realized too late that the only thing he managed to do was chop into pieces a big branch that was barely above their heads.

So far, it had been spared by their lightsabers, but the moment that his blade touched it, it began to fall toward him, bringing into play all its heavy weight of a centenary branch.

With barely a split second to decide on a course of action, Luke's instinct for survival took over and he dove for a branch that was nearby yet slightly out of reach of a normal jump.

Behind him, the huge branch came crashing down where he had been standing before it toppled over and caught his heels while he was still flying toward his chosen safe heaven. Although the contact between the two of them was minimal, it was enough to shorten his distance by a few precious centimeters that not even the Force could compensate for.

With barely a sound of resignation escaping from his fear-tightened throat, he felt himself drop down and toward the far-away ground-

When a strong hand seemed to wrap around him and pulled him up and back toward the location that he had just vacated.

He had barely processed this apparent miracle that he identified the source of that impossible feat; his lightsaber was once again turned on but this time, it was aimed toward him. The game was over, he realized; it was now or never.

However, Vader had other plans and knew when he had taken enough risks with his favourite prey. Wordlessly, the dark-clad giant Force-plucked the weapon from Luke's hand, and then finished to pull him back on the branch where he was still standing, as undisturbed as ever.

"You were right," the Sith told him as if they had been arguing about a trivial matter a few seconds before his near death. "This is not a proper meeting ground."

Before Luke could fight against the unyielding grip that the other had taken on his arm, or that he could try anything to escape him or fight against him for that matter, the youth's senses eluded him completely.

It was, he dimly reflected, as if the darkness of the surrounding forest had finally claimed him after all.

TBC

* * *

Well? How was that?

If you want more, you know what to do:) And if you don't want more because of bad characterizations, lack of detail, or anything that could help me improve this story into a more edible read, I'd still like to know why (via private messaging if you prefer). However, if you simply don't like _this kind_ of story, then don't worry. To each our own :)

Have a great week-end everyone, and remember, reviews are very precious gifts all year long :) Moreover, this time, they might make me work on this story first for the next year or so ;P So? Will you vote for it? I hope so!


	2. Chapter 2

The Embrace of the Sith

By Mireille

2000/2012

* * *

When Vader leaves Luke alone with the Emperor after capturing him, even 'he' can't imagine just what the cruel Sith Lord has in store for his son. Can Luke resist long enough to be rescued? Can he even be rescued this time? (not slash)

* * *

Good afternoon everyone!

Here is the second part of the eighth of eleven stories that I feel like writing, but can't decide which to work on first. Can you help me figure out that answer?

Remember, the story with the most readers and reviews will be my next project in the works. So, if you like this one, leave a review to vote for it :)

Thanks for your help! Hope you enjoy this story as well!

If you do, please, share your thoughts :)

* * *

Disclaimers: Nothing in the Star Wars Universe belong to me; everything belongs to George Lucas. I'm only writing stories for fun.

* * *

Part 2: New orders

Upon his return aboard his flagship, Lord Vader brought his infamous prisoner to the detention block. He had sent orders prior to his arrival so that, when the Jedi would be aboard, everything would be ready for him.

Thus it was that a detention block had been emptied, its prisoners relocated to other blocks so that, except for authorized personnel, no one would be around the Jedi. There were also twice as many security guards and assigned troopers present in the block, with four more dedicated to the Jedi's door and an extra two waiting inside the cell proper.

By the time that the still unconscious Jedi was locked in the waiting chains and that the cuffs had been welded shut, there was simply no way that the rebel would be able to escape, not with anyone's help, and most certainly 'not' on his own.

Vader also intended to stay with him for as long as possible, but the moment that his son was secured in his cell, his comlink went off with a priority one signal.

Irritated by the interruption, he called the offending device to his hand and activated it.

"What is it, Admiral?"

"My Lord, we are receiving a call from his highness the Emperor."

Even though Vader was tempted to tell him to ignore the call, he answered otherwise.

"Transfer it to the nearest communication center."

"As you wish, my Lord."

* * *

Moments later, Vader was kneeling before his master's hologram. "What is thy bidding, my master?"

"I have changed my mind about young Skywalker's circumstances. Make it absolutely and painfully clear to him that no defiance will even be tolerated from his part."

Vader's lips tightened in resentment but he remained silent.

"Is there a problem with my order, Lord Vader?"

"No, master," he finally answered. "I merely thought that, given our last experiences with the youth, it might be more beneficial to try another way this time."

"It is especially because of those past encounters that you are going to push him even further than ever, my friend. He can only break, as you have proven time and time again with most of your prisoners."

The dark lord remained silent yet again.

"I wonder if your feelings on this matter are clear, Lord Vader," Palpatine then commented in a barely-veiled warning.

Vader caught the undertone and realized that he was already toeing the line enough as it was. "They are clear, master," he bowed and practically spewed the words that followed, so hard they were to stomach. "Skywalker will join us, through force if necessary."

Pleased by his answer, his master barely nodded in approval before he terminated the transmission.

Vader then rose back to his full height and steeled himself for the most unpleasant torture session he had ever and would ever lead ever again.

He only wished that it could be otherwise.

* * *

When Luke was forced to recover his senses, due to the adrenaline shot he received and the instant jolt of pain that accompanied his recovered awareness of his physical condition, he barely had time to brace himself for the punch that followed his awakening.

His head rolled backward and to the side- and he realized, through his opening eyes, that he was held by his wrists, hanging from them and that he was locked in chains that were bolted to the dark and red-lit ceiling. Even as he registered that unfortunately-familiar sight, his ears also resumed working and the first sound he heard confirmed his first deduction.

He was in an imperial cell.

Another punch, this time to his stomach, pushed his upper body upward and, even as he gasped what little air he had in his lungs, his head tipped back toward his chest.

He coughed and winced, and then yelped when his shoulders resumed holding his whole weight aloft after jerking him to a halt after a short fall from the temporary hold that had been the pushing strong arm of the imperial.

Belatedly, he understood that he had already been shot with a pain-enhancing drug of some kind.

"That was for the Death Star, scum," an unfamiliar voice snarled right in his ear.

Surprised despite himself that Vader wasn't the one tormenting him, Luke forced his eyes – including his already-swollen right one – open to stare at the stranger. He instantly recognized the uniform of a chief inquisitor, or master torturer as they were called by everyone else but the Empire.

It didn't bode well, and yet after being tortured by Vader himself-

The following punch to his left floating ribs cut off his thoughts 'and' convinced him that he was still in a very bad situation.

"Where is the rendezvous point of the rebel fleet?" the stranger demanded and, in the moment that followed, Luke finally became aware that, although Vader was in the cell with him, he would not be leading his interrogation.

"How should I know?" Luke spat at the older man- and was viciously backhanded in the jaw in punishment.

He was then jabbed again in the chest and stomach, and kicked sideways in the right thigh, the heel of the man's boot penetrating deep into his over-sensitized muscle.

Luke couldn't help but howl in suffering.

He was still moaning from the after effects of the kick and punches that a crackling sound drew his attention back on his tormentor.

He was brandishing an all-too-familiar electric rod, which was clearly set on maximum already.

Behind the sneering man, the Sith was impassive, his hands hooked in his belt while he watched the man's 'performance'.

"Rebel commander Luke Skywalker, identification number Zeta-023-820-alpha, place of birth unknown, last known residence, quadrant 92092-1023 on Tatooine, rumored Jedi-in-training, destroyer of the Death Star and so-called hero of Yavin. Wanted for numerous other lesser crimes against the galactic empire and its servants."

Luke stared silently at the Sith, aware that he had scanned his unconscious mind. It was the only way that he could have learnt all those precise details in his regards.

"So, 'Commander'," the questioner said, stepping closer to his strung-up form, "where is the rebel fleet's rendezvous point?"

The youth merely glared in defiance at both him and Vader, and was naturally punished for his lack of cooperation.

He arched up in agony for as long as the electricity coursed through his stomach and up and down his body.

* * *

Still very much conflicted about what he had to do to his son, yet aware that if he didn't become personally involved in the process, Palpatine would exact revenge in a most unpleasant way, Darth Vader gave his carefully-selected subordinate a few more hours to allegedly soften his special prisoner.

He had also chosen well, as Luke's quickly worsening physical state could attest. The man, who had lost two brothers that had been stationed in the Death Star, had been holding a personal grudge against Luke for so long that he had even already sent a memo to volunteer for the boy's interrogation before the dark lord of the Sith had come looking for an assistant.

Lieutenant Rikkiv had also grimaced when he had been told not to threaten the boy's life in any permanent way and Vader had read in the man's thoughts that he would make sure that the cursed Jedi would be begging for death by the time he was done with him.

He had then begun working the prisoner in earnest, aware that his superior would be stepping in and taking over before the end of their return to Coruscant. As an adept of teras-kasi, he knew 'exactly' how to use the strung up body like a punching bag while inflicting the maximum damage that 'really' hurt.

Vader couldn't help but wince yet again when he heard yet again the distinctive sound of a breaking bone even as the rebel screamed in torment when his left tibia lost its initial integrity and shifted into an abnormal angle.

Since the boy had been stripped of his boots even before he had been strung up, as per the chosen protocol for his sojourn aboard Executor, Vader saw quite rapidly the effect of that clean break on the boy's foot. His skin, which had been a normal color so far, quickly turned blue while the bottom of the limb began to swell in its bond.

Naturally, the ongoing shifting from left to right, and off and on the deck didn't help the situation, compounding his son's pain to worse levels.

Behind the howling youth, the watching guards barely twitched but Vader understood that they, too, were grimacing in sympathy at the pain that had to be generated by the broken 'and' shifting limb.

"Where?" Rikkiv shouted yet again before he zapped Luke again, in an equally broken floating rib.

The lack of answer pleased the cruel man and he reared the hand holding the stick before clubbing the boy's lower back with it. His son nearly passed out from that last attack.

That was it, Vader decided and took one step away from the bulkhead. "I will take it from here, Lieutenant," he stated firmly even as he motioned with his fingers and forcefully roused the boy by sending a jolt of adrenaline into his system. "You're dismissed."

Although Rikkiv's senses screamed in frustration at being deprived from his rightful vengeance, he knew better than to risk his superior's wrath and straightened himself in answer. He then clacked his heels, bowed in obedience and left the opening cell.

In front of him, his bruised son was gasping for breath and he didn't look like he would be able to hold his weight for much longer without lethally harming his lungs with his broken ribs.

He studied his options for a moment, and then acted.

* * *

Luke was fighting for breath, the agony of the knife that was planted in his lungs making it harder and harder to get any air at all in his body.

He didn't really mind the death that was now hovering above him, but his body just wouldn't cooperate and 'stop' breathing and hurting him. Every few second, he found himself giving it another try, and keening in response to the signal of suffering he received from his ribcage.

It was so intense that it even blotted out the throbbing of his broken left leg.

Then, something completely unexpected happened.

Vader turned on his lightsaber and, before anyone could do anything, the dark lord cut him off his four chains, but before the boy had fallen on the deck, he felt the Sith's Force catch him and push him hard into the back wall of the cell.

That didn't help and Luke was once again wheezing for air when two of the chains that had held him so far also flew toward him and wrapped themselves tightly around his arms and ribcage, immobilizing in a less painful but no less escapable position.

Two minutes later, his other chains had also been reconfigured so that his feet were also bound together while the remaining one looped itself around his upper chains and firmly dug itself in the wall and above his head, making it impossible for him to go anywhere.

Not that he could do anything anyway, he dimly reflected while he greedily swallowed all the oxygen that he could once again breathe. Granted, his chains restrained how deeply he could breathe, but they also lessened the movement of his broken ribs, and that 'really' helped.

"Death will never be an option, young one," Vader's ominous voice suddenly cut into his thoughts, drawing his attention back to his present menace. "You can already feel the difference of the situation, and yet we are not even halfway to our destination. Do you have enough and prefer to vouch in obedience to your new master and gain access to proper medical care? Or shall we continue with other means of persuasion?"

Naturally, and unfortunately, his stubborn child chose the latter and merely glowered up at him. "Very well," he answered and, with a curt move of his hand, dismissed the present troopers. The men, although hardened by serving on his flagship, were practically quivering in their armor after witnessing too many magical feats in one day.

They simply couldn't wait to leave his presence, and one of them had nearly fainted when the chains had begun moving by themselves and toward them. Vader suspected that he would give into that urge as soon as he would be out of the cell. Such occurrence would then strengthen Vader's already infamous reputation in regards to his special powers.

He didn't do anything to intervene in that regard, his attention riveted on the willful boy that he and his wife had created. If only...

Seconds after the troopers were out, but before the door closed down again, not one, not two, but three torture droids floated in and hovered on both sides and in front of the cringing child.

"Whenever you have enough, I will be right here to hear your vow of obedience, boy."

*Never," came through the Force, and more would have probably followed but the droids simultaneously injected him with each a dose of their most efficient pain-enhancing drugs before they began to torment him, sometimes in synchronism, sometimes in three different ways, each of them more painful than the other.

Vader allowed it to last for as long as Luke's challenged lungs could endure the strain that each scream put on them, and then gave a respite to the boy while allowing the Force to heal him, but only where his ribs and leg were concerned.

While giving him time to recover a little, Vader also probed his mind as much as he could, trying – hoping – to find a clue as to how he could convince his ever rebellious son to stop resisting and accept his pre-ordained destiny.

However, just like all the other times that he had tried when Luke was in his custody, he didn't find what he was looking for, running instead into nothing but the very opposite of what the boy would be expected to become once under Palpatine's control.

Still, he did not give up on his hope to spare his son the Emperor's cruel plans and, every few hours, resumed the boy's torture in case he 'did' manage to break his will before they arrived to Coruscant.

No such luck.

* * *

By the time that it was time to deliver Luke to his new master, the child's clothes had gradually been slashed and ripped away from him by his mechanical tormentors, his nervous system was unbalanced and his fractures, although partly healed, were still rather painful and limited both his ability to walk and breathe.

Vader surmised that their master should, at least, be pleased by the boy's weakened state.

He watched with mixed feelings while the troopers freed his legs, cut him free from the wall and carried him, his arms still chained, in his wake.

TBC

* * *

Well? How was that?

If you want more, you know what to do:) And if you don't want more because of bad characterizations, lack of detail, or anything that could help me improve this story into a more edible read, I'd still like to know why (via private messaging if you prefer). However, if you simply don't like _this kind_ of story, then don't worry. To each our own :)

Have a great week-end everyone, and remember, reviews are very precious gifts all year long :) Moreover, this time, they might make me work on this story first for the next year or so ;P So? Will you vote for it? I hope so!


	3. Chapter 3

The Embrace of the Sith

By Mireille

2000/2012

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Previously: Vader captured his son and was ordered by the Emperor to try and break his son's will before they reached Coruscant. Unable to hurt him again, Vader had someone else do the deed before he reluctantly used several torture droids on the child. Nothing worked. To keep Luke's broken ribs from killing him, he wrapped his arms and chest in chains, which were left in place when they left Executor.

* * *

Good evening everyone :)

First of all, thanks to everyone who commented the first posts and/or voted for this story. I'm glad you enjoy it this much already and I hope that your fun will continue with the next part :)

In answer to the anonymous review by Dizzlator, Vader's conflict and true emotions should become clearer as the story progresses. After all, even 'he' doesn't know how to manage them yet ;P Thanks for your interest!

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Here is the third part of the eighth of eleven stories that I feel like writing, but can't decide which to work on first. Can you help me figure out that answer?

Important! After the fourth part, I will close the first round of the poll and focus/update only the winning story for the next year or so... The other stories will remain available but incomplete until I have finished the winner of your collective choice :)

Said winner will be the story with the most returning readers, reviews and/or alerts and comments through PMs. So, if you like this one, or if this new chapter suddenly makes this story the most interesting of the list, leave a review to vote for it as a whole :) You can also vote more than once for your favorite using PMs ;P

As of today, the vote is heading in the following direction :

1 - Unexpected (478 points)

2- Incarnations (295 points)

3 - The balance of the Force and Deceit are ex aequo (222 points)

In fifth and sixth positions are An Unfortunate Blessing and It is Useless to Resist.

If you want to try and change the direction of the vote after reading this new part, you know what to do :)

Thanks for your help! Hope you enjoy this new post as well!

If you do, please, share your thoughts :D

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Disclaimers: Nothing in the Star Wars Universe belong to me; everything belongs to George Lucas. I'm only writing stories for fun.

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Warning! The embrace and the details of what it does to Luke could come straight from a horror/torture movie (it goes further than what the cannon version did), so... don't underestimate the M-rating of this fic. It really begins with this part.

Part 2: The Embrace of the Sith

For a long moment, only the sound of Vader's artificial breathing filled the cavernous space that Darth Sidious called his throne room. Prior to their arrival, the ruler had, much to Vader's relief, dismissed his court of sycophants, military officers and anyone else normally present around him save for his faithful royal guards.

Since his currently rebellious son would eventually join them, it would simply not do for any element of the rabble to remember ever seeing the boy in any way but as his rightful heir and the Emperor's third-in-command.

Indeed, when the child would wisen up, he would rule from Palpatine's left side and over everyone but their master and his father, until such time as they overthrew the Sith master and Luke became his father's right hand and equal in almost everything save his rank in the order of things.

For now, though, Vader patiently waited for Palpatine to finish his perusal of his son's broken and tattered sight while the boy hung limply from the grip that the royal guards had on the chains that were still wrapped around the Jedi's arms and broken ribcage.

"Well done, Lord Vader," the despot finally said before he slowly rose from his throne and stepped closer to the beleaguered youth. "And welcome to you, young Vader. I have been expecting you."

"My name is Skywalker," the boy retorted instantly- and was reprimanded just as fast by a whiplash of the Emperor's hand.

Vader couldn't help but wince at the groan of pain that escaped his boy's already raw throat. No matter how fervently he wished for Luke to join him – them, he reluctantly amended - he definitely felt uncomfortable with the necessity to coerce him through torture and punishment.

Perhaps it was the boy's similarities with his defunct mother – whom Vader still loved as if she were still alive – or perhaps it was merely the fact that Luke was the flesh of his flesh, the blood of his blood; whatever the reason was, though, he wished he could depose Palpatine already and spare Luke any new form of pain.

However, just like his resisting son would someday understand, Vader had also learnt the hard way that, unless one was absolutely certain that he would win against Palpatine, one didn't defy the Sith master in any way without paying a pittance of sort, generally with his own pain and blood, and occasionally with his sanity.

"Hmmm, I see that you have been too lenient with the boy, my friend," Palpatine commented to his second in command, drawing Vader's attention back to the here and now. "Fear not, however. There is still time to remedy to the situation."

Vader couldn't help but bristle at Palpatine's dismissive attitude in regards to his son's prolonged agony, yet he refrained from acting on his fury. He was all too aware that it would only please his cruel master while earning worse pain for the young Jedi whom Vader claimed to care about.

"I will take it from here, my friend. I'm afraid that you are already needed back with the fleet."

Now t_hat_ wasn't what Vader had expected. "Master?"

He was barely aware of Luke shifting his neck to glance wearily up at him when Palpatine stepped back toward them _and_ between them, almost physically keeping father and son from looking at each other anymore.

'Already trying to separate us,' Vader realized with a sinking feeling in the pit of what was left of his stomach.

"Now that you have secured the Jedi upstart, there's no more need to draw the rebels to the second Death star."

"Second-" Luke gasped in shock and horror, and then was harshly silenced by one of his carriers who jabbed his broken leg with his activated Force pike.

Not surprisingly, Sidious interrupted their conversation to punish the boy further before warning the half-conscious child to remain silent unless he was spoken to. Palpatine then turned back toward his uneasy servant, looking for all the galaxy as if he hadn't molested his son yet again _'and'_ in front of the father. "As you know," the Sith master went on, undisturbed, "the rebel fleet is gathering in the Sullust system. Make it their graveyard as well, my friend."

For a moment, Vader was torn between trying to dissuade his master and obeying him blindly, but one gaze into the tyrant's sulphurous glare and he made up his mind.

He had belatedly understood that, now that his son was with them, it would be Luke who would pay the price for any sign of disobedience from 'his' part. Palpatine was just 'extremely' well aware that any action against the boy more than upset the armored man.

Vader reluctantly bowed in obedience. "As you wish, Master."

"Good. Victory awaits us once again, my friend. Leave now and claim it for us."

With a last bow, and then a last, forlorn gaze at his half-aware son, Vader slowly turned heels and began his way down the long flight of stairs that he had just climbed up, his beaten son carried in his wake.

While he walked toward the main entrance of the throne room instead of the secret one that he had used to enter with his unique prisoner, Vader couldn't help but feel like he was making his worst mistake yet.

He did his best to ignore his bad feeling.

* * *

On the uppermost platform of the long stairs, Palpatine carefully studied his young prize, taking in every painful hitch of his breath whenever he merely breathed. He also scanned the boy's young, wilful and incredibly resilient little mind that would be his new playground for a while.

He would enjoy this new challenge; he hadn't had that strong a will to toy with since the boy's father had come out of nowhere and even then, his future apprentice had been nothing but a naïve child.

Vader's son, however, was already a mature youth with values deeply ingrained and beliefs firmly rooted in his heart and mind.

It would be interesting to see how long the would-be Jedi would last against what he had prepared especially for him.

"Bring him," he said curtly to his personal guards even as he turned toward the side wall of the platform that held his throne. Behind him, the youth hissed and groaned while his broken left leg dragged painfully against the carpeted deck.

Palpatine ignored him and led his royal guards into the secret corridor that laid behind the side wall. There, he walked down the long and narrow path that was mostly meant for his Hands agents.

It wasn't long afterward that Palpatine felt the Jedi's strong will falter as his body pulled him under for a while. He didn't rouse him up yet, aware that the less the youth would know about his cell's location, the more vulnerable he would feel when the time would come to crush him.

He finally stopped in front of a non-descript section of the wall and, with but a touch of his hand on an undistinguishable panel, the concealed scanner confirmed his fingerprints and opened the personal lift that he had installed there. His faithful guards silently followed him inside and the turbolift swiftly shot down and sideways toward their destination.

Considering his faltering health and his need to hide more secrets than anyone ever suspected, he had created a secondary system in his secret passages so that while no one would know about his true secrets he also wouldn't have to walk the length of his private passages in order to reach the various secret installations and labs that he had set up throughout the infrastructure of both the palace and Imperial city.

He had also created a honeycomb of lift passages and alternative shafts so that, should anyone even suspect the existence of his personal turbolift/passages, they would still have a really hard time finding what they were looking for, if they ever figured out where they were in the first place.

In regards to his prized new apprentice, he had taken extra precautions, installing his Sithling's special cell in the middle of the palace's armored foundations. With nothing but his voice and secret password to grant access to the tertiary program that would lead his lift there, no one but himself would ever access it or even know it existed.

As for his royal guards, the moment that they would be back into the main secret corridors, he would erase their memories of his secret means of transportation and installations and that would be that. Since it wouldn't be the first time that he would do so, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this method was completely foolproof.

"Embrace of the Sith," he said out loud while the lift ran its course; just like usual when he had overseen the construction of the particular enclosure, the tertiary program activated upon his signal and the autopilot confirmed their new destination.

Behind him, his future apprentice remained blissfully unaware of the nightmare that awaited him if he still refused to join him.

Sidious granted him his last minutes of respite. It would not change anything to the outcome anyway _and_ it made sure that not even the boy would be able to escape his cell if he ever managed to make it that far, but now he was just being overly cautious in that regard. There was simply no way that his little Sithling would give him the slip the way he had his father a few years ago.

* * *

A sharp jab of electricity abruptly tore Luke out of his torpor and he gasped as his various pains resumed tormenting him.

"Hold him up better, my friends. I wish for him to _see_ exactly where we are."

Luke grunted while the guards pulled him further up until his unbroken leg could bear his weight, albeit shakily so. One of the imperials then pulled his head backward through a fistful of hair and the youth had no choice but to look at what the Emperor wished him to see.

The moment that he spotted the large organic device that stood behind the Emperor and in front of him, Luke balked in horror and struggled to free himself, his unyielding chains clinking while he strained against them and the guard's grip on the said chains.

"Good, now we can talk. Or rather," the tyrant warned, raising a clawed finger and pushing it into Luke's bruised jaw until he made him grimace in complaint. "I shall talk, and you shall listen and reconsider very carefully the offer that is still yours to take for, oh," he mused mock-nonchalantly, "another five minutes or so."

"I will never-" Luke began defiantly but fell silent when the finger became five and grasped his jaw, its claw-like nails digging into his bruised right cheek until they drew blood.

"I said, silence, slave!" Palpatine held on a little longer, raking his long nails down his tender flesh, and then wrench his hand away from him as if in disgust, tearing further into his skin while drawing a hiss of pain from him. "Hard-headed that you are, I shall be thorough in explaining your options to you so that you make a well-informed choice."

Luke pursed his lips in disgust while he kept struggling against his bonds, to no avail, of course.

"The first option," Palpatine went on, undisturbed, "I believe you know and understand from your father's wise example. Therefore, I will not detail it any further. The other, however," he pulled back and motioned at the alien-looking creature that was present in the cell, "is somewhat more of a puzzle, isn't it? Yes," he continued upon seeing him cringe and strain harder against the royal guards and his bonds. "I don't believe anyone besides me knows about this peculiar torture device. After all, I _did_ eliminate those that helped me modify it to suit my needs, but I'm digressing," he sneered meanly at the trapped youth. "I'm certain that you're not interested in the how, only in the what." He stepped slowly closer to the mysterious creature which, upon feeling his hand on it, unfurled leathery tentacles from behind itself. The long limbs then began to twitch as if in expectation of a meal or at least a victim of some sort.

Luke suddenly had a sickeningly bad feeling about this.

Meanwhile, the Emperor continued to pet the creature and even produced what looked like food that he handed to the nearest tentacle; Luke watched in abject horror as the limb disappeared behind what he could see of the creature, only to reappear empty, thus confirming to the youth that it _was_ a creature and not just a device like the despot had hinted at so far.

"This, my young Sithling, is a modified living technology that I have acquired from a species that lives outside our galaxy. In its original form, it is called an embrace of pain. However, this one has been genetically altered so that it is also adapted to my requirements in regards to you, my most expected Jedi prisoner. I call it: the embrace of the Sith."

Luke, who was already feeling nauseous by the mere existence of such a creature, blanched further when he began to understand just how mad the Sith Lord truly was. He '_had_' to get out of here!

"Unlike our crude devices and tested methods, which you are intimately familiar with already," Palpatine went on, "this living being not only feeds on the pain that she generates in her victim but she also keeps her prey in constant unbearable pain '_and_' alive, for years if necessary. However, that still wasn't enough to answer my requirements for the last of the Jedi."

The despot shifted his touch on the creature so as to pet her flat surface and pincers-like claws emerged in a perfect column down the middle of her gelatinous-looking back, if he could call it that. Another touch and they retreated back inside the alien.

Luke was completely horror-struck by then, aware that _those_ would be set along his back and spine. Force knew what they would do to him…

Palpatine then motioned to the guards to bring him forward; the weakened Jedi did his best to resist, but it was pointless for his body was beyond exhausted. He was now simply scared out of his wits, completely terrified, and... and utterly helpless.

As if feeling him closer, the tentacles writhed toward him, attempting to get a feel for him, or so he sensed through the Force.

"You wish to avoid this, don't you?" the despot taunted him, gently taking hold of an uppermost tentacle and petting it without concern before he brought it closer to the Jedi's head.

Luke reflexively jerked back, only to be pushed back toward the strong-looking limb that shuddered upon touching him.

"Oh, I see that she already likes you, young one," the Sith smiled in twisted glee. "_if_ I give you to her, I doubt she'll ever let you go." He gave him a meaningful glare, which Luke returned, silently refusing his continued offer. "You see," the Emperor shrugged easily, "amongst the numerous modifications that I have engineered in this specimen, I have developed her taste for the Force, and most-especially for the weak Light Side in which you pathetically wrap yourself."

As if to prove its point, the tentacle shuddered twice as much when the Emperor led it down against the Jedi's neck and upper chest.

"A true Sith, however, doesn't attract it at all, and it is completely and exclusively devoted to me."

The youth was rendered speechless by then, his disgust and fright blocking his throat with spasms and his thoughts with terror. He could only stare, wide-eyed, and shake his head in horrified disbelief.

"I have told you already, my friend. To avoid this, there's only one option left: join me before it is too late."

Although the young Jedi was scared mute and paralysed with fear, the reminder of what his other option was also gave him courage to confront that fear. He would die before he became like Vader. He would _never_ turn.

As if reading his mind, Palpatine slowly shook his head in disagreement. "How unwise you are. Like your father, you are now mine, so choose very carefully the terms of your stay with me. They can still be worthy of your legacy as Lord Vader's son, or they can be straight out of your worst nightmares and beyond. Either way, you will still serve me, one way or another."

"Never," Luke finally spat, adamant. "I will never turn to the Dark Side. I am a Jedi, like my father, Anakin Skywalker."

"Then so be it, Jedi," the Sith spat in scorn and disgust.

With barely a shift of his hooded head, the Sith master silently ordered his servants to undo the boy's chains and lock him to the creature. Although gelatinous-looking, the back of the creature was actually rather solid and unyeilding, as Luke unwillingly found out when he was violently slammed on it, his breath knocked out of his lungs and already aching ribcage. His new pain from those injuries was such that he didn't even feel the twisting agony of his broken tibia when it shifted position.

He then barely remained aware and wheezed painfully while he attempted to draw in a breath even as the royal guards withdrew their grip from him.

If he had been perfectly aware at that moment, he might have had a chance to escape the creature, but he was too dazed and too weakened to take advantage of the alien's slightly slower reaction time; the youth was still gasping for breath when the embrace's eager tentacles wrapped tightly around his wrists, pelvic area and ankles. Scorching fire then stabbed into his bound body parts when the tentacles produced spikes that pierced his flesh while tightening their hold on him.

He moaned, doing his best not to show just how painful the sensation was, but as if to sneer at his effort, the alien device didn't stop there.

He had barely begun to recover control over his senses that another type of bondage was produced by the creature. Unlike what he had seen and surmised, the claws were, in fact, sharp spikes that dug right through his fragile flesh. He downright howled in agony at the multiple punctures along both sides of his spine, and then screamed even worse when the pincers shifted inside his flesh and suddenly became supple enough to wrap tightly around his bones; they then pulled him hard against the alien's back, using her grip inside his body to anchor him further into the gelatinous surface of the embrace.

This time, the agony was unlike anything he had ever felt, clouding all his lesser pains, let alone his perception of the blood that had gushed out of his wounds and that now slid down his legs and the upright platform.

He was also barely aware that, while he had been out of it, the guards had sliced away the rags that had still covered him so far, ripping them out - painfully so - from under the alien's grip when they had to.

He, for his part, could only gasp in torment, trying to gather his endurance the way he had so far in this new captivity. Palpatine gave him a moment to focus his attention back on him before he resumed taunting him.

"In case you are wondering, this is but an appetizer for her, my little Sithling. As for me, I can wait forever for you to change your mind. After all, your father is still more useful than not, and with the Rebellion all but gone, no one will dare oppose me anymore. In time, you _will_ call me Master. As for leaving this cell and its unceasing torments, once I leave you in my pet's care, your only way out of here will be to utterly and completely give into the Dark Side. Until then, you will only exist in a woken nightmare from which you will never escape for as long as you don't do what you must.

Luke meant to spit a retort at him, but burning pain cut him off when more spikes plunged into his lower and middle back. When they didn't hurt him further, though, he understood that they were probably probes to monitor his vital organs. They were too close to some of those organs to be anything but that, he dimly reflected, and especially since the tyrant had mentioned that the alien would keep him alive. He refocused his glare on his captor. "Wish… away," he half-breathed, the only sound he could make with his pain-broken voice.

Unlike what he expected, Palpatine violently backhanded him across the face for his insolence. The strength of the impact was enough to daze Luke, but what truly distressed him about this new punishment was how his reeling head naturally pulled at his opposite shoulder and upper back, and that resulted in a burning agony when he felt as if the skin of those body parts was being viciously torn away from his muscles; his flesh just wouldn't leave the alien's surface anymore!

He was literally _stuck_ to the alien's back.

"Through every single follicle of your skin, yes, my naïve apprentice. Do you wish to reconsider your final decision before the last phase of the preparation is complete? What awaits you _is_ worse than what you have already suffered, and that will only be the softening phase."

Worse than that? Luke couldn't help but cringe in dread, but once again, the thought of sharing his father's fate –of hurting innocents in any way - hardened him yet again, strengthening his resolve.

Unlike what Luke expected for his lack of cooperation, Palpatine actually grinned malevolently at his silent answer. "Finish it," he ordered, petting the alien yet again before she withdrew her remaining limb from the tyrant's hand and wrapped it around the Jedi's neck, just tightly enough to make him uncomfortable while more spikes, though shorter than the ones he had been submitted to already, penetrated the flesh of his neck. Then, Luke could only grit his teeth in suffering as a new and larger claw-like thing dug sharply into the skin that was behind his ears as well as at the crown of his skull, efficiently immobilizing his head in a straight position.

The rebel Jedi reflexively tried to free himself, only to still when he realized that his whole body was now stuck to the alien. Moving was simply impossible anymore, at least not without harming himself further.

Visibly delighted by his awful predicament, Palpatine stepped closer and raised a hand to his face as if in care.

Luke reflexively pulled away from the offending touch, only to still when he felt as if he were about to scalp himself while the tentacle around his throat tightened in a painful fashion thanks to his cursed spines. Darn, he was well and truly trapped now.

Palpatine smirked knowingly at him but didn't comment on his latest attempt to defy him. Instead, he took on a pensive look and pursed his lips as if he didn't like what he saw. "I must admit that you are not nearly as powerful as I expected, child. After all, you gave so much trouble to your father before he finally caught you again that I thought you'd be more… impressive."

Luke was aware that Palpatine was trying to upset him, to anger him even. Therefore, he let his criticism slide off his mind without even considering it.

Said nemesis, meanwhile, went on with his monologue. "Granted, you have much potential, perhaps even more than your father did at your age, but you aren't trained nearly as much as you should be already. How low the so-called Jedi have sunk," he then tutted in disapproval even as he shook his head. "How desperate they must be for the great Master Yoda himself to train _you_, of all people… After all, you _are_ the son of Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith. Yoda knows, like I do, that your true calling does not reside with the Jedi way."

That did it! Luke could take much from the despot, but he would not let him insult his wise and powerful teacher and mentor. Ignoring everything else but his goal to throttle his enemy, he reflexively lunged forward to try and strain past his various bonds; he only managed to pull at his skin while temporarily strangling himself and stabbing his neck further. He stilled completely, and even more so when the rest of the tentacles tightened to a breaking point around him, their thorns pulling and even slicing his wounds further open with their slow shifting.

"Case in point," Palpatine sneered in amusement at the recovering and gasping youth. "Like your father, you are not destined to be a pathetic Jedi but a powerful Sith Lord. You are very much like your father, young Sithling, led by your strong emotions and irresistible passions. You could never limit yourself to the passive ways of the Jedi, just like your father couldn't either even _when_ he was a Jedi hero."

"I will _never_ join you," Luke gritted through his clenched teeth even as pain began to suffuse his legs and lower back thanks to the increased pressure of his bonds.

"Yet you will never be anything anymore but what I wish you to be, slave. Now, this is how it will proceed, young one. As I said before, I will not decide the moment of your release; my pet here will. Until you truly, completely and utterly embrace the Dark Side of the Force _and_ intend to serve me – and only me - she will hold onto you and always torment you. When you will turn, however, she will know it and will release you; nothing else, be them pleas for mercy or honest vows of obedience, will be enough. As for your usefulness to me, you will serve me even in your current state. You are mine now, little Sithling."

"My friends will rescue me before anything irreversible happens."

"Oh no, slave," Palpatine retorted confidently. "Even if your friends somehow manage to truly locate you, which will be nigh impossible since I'm the only one who knows about this cell, they will still be unable to free you, or at least not without killing you."

"Your overconfidence is your weakness," Luke shot back, feeling some of his strength return now that he didn't have to hold his weight anymore on his broken ribcage and that no new injury was inflicted upon him.

"Your faith in your friends is yours, but we shall rid you of it before long, you'll see," Palpatine concluded and tapped him mock-gently on the cheek. "Someday, you'll have to ask your father what his _friend_ did to him and why he never nourished such weakness ever again."

Luke grimaced but remained silent, locking his defiant glare on the Emperor's hooded features.

The other slapped him slightly harder yet not violently so in answer. "Still unwise, I see. I remind you that this is but the softening phase of what awaits you. If you think that this is bad, then reconsider before it is too late."

A silence stretched between them, which Luke didn't use to answer otherwise than he had so far.

Palpatine sneered at him. "And now we're there, Child. _This_ is your last chance to change your mind about your obedience to me. Once my pet has begun processing you, even I will not be able to override its genetic programming. It will either release a Sith, or it won't release you ever."

Downright outraged and scared out of his usual wits, Luke spat in disgust at the despot - and then would have arched up as the intensity of the pain in his whole body suddenly ramped up while his head began throbbing with agony.

Palpatine smiled in satisfaction and petted his creature one more time. In front of him, the youth was trying to hold back screams of torment, desperately trying to spare himself at least _that_ extra pain since his throat was already raw from his previous torture sessions.

"Take excellent care of him, my pet. He's all yours." He then stood straight in front of the agonizing youth and leaned closer until Luke could see all the way to the back of his hood and the yellow eyes that shone maliciously. "I shall return soon, my young Sithling. Until then, you will be all hers, and she _really_ likes you, as you will soon find out."

With a last mock-caring touch to Luke's still bleeding face, Palpatine cackled in self-satisfaction before he and his guards left the cell.

The door had barely closed that the lights turned off, plunging Luke into pitch black darkness even as he suddenly felt as if his mind had been ripped apart. the Force! He realized in horror.

The Force had suddenly been _taken_ from him.

Before he could figure how it could be possible, however, fire suddenly chased from his heart and straight into the rest of his body, drawing an honest scream of torture from him. He then yelped in shock when the creature shifted position, pulling him backward and over herself until he was facing away from the door '_and_' hanging upside down in his restraints.

The weight of his body dragged him downward, horribly pulling at his stuck skin and adding yet another element to his overwhelming throes of agony. The only pain he didn't feel anymore where his broken bones because his weight didn't rest on them anymore while they were also solidly immobilized against the alien's back.

Then, before he could truly feel even a little relief, more spikes pierced his back, compounding the scalding sensation that now filled him even as he began to feel something slice at the skin of his bare legs, inflicting small but burningly painful cuts upon him.

It wasn't long before he couldn't remain silent anymore, his throat and broken ribs be damned, and he screamed for all his worth.

It just hurt too much.

Worse, unlike during his previous and unwilling torture experiences, this time, the pain levels remained the same at any given time.

It was only beginning to dawn on him that he was in way worse than he had first estimated.

Then, after he felt the alien inject him with some kind of agent, the pain increased yet again and he couldn't even think anymore. He could only feel his body's various complaints and scream in accordance with it.

And he wanted to die so very, very much.

* * *

TBC

Well? How was that? What do you think of Palpatine's plan this time? Do you think that Luke can be rescued? that he will be? Or will he be broken this time? And how do you think Vader will react when he will find out about 'that'?

If you want more, you know what to do:) And if you don't want more because of bad characterizations, lack of detail, or anything that could help me improve this story into a more edible read, I'd still like to know why (via private messaging if you prefer). However, if you simply don't like this 'kind' of story, of it it's simply not your style of story, then don't worry. To each our own :)

Have a great week everyone, and remember, reviews are very precious gifts all year long :) Moreover, this time, they might make me work on this story first for the next year or so ;P So? Will you vote for it? I hope so!


	4. Chapter 4

The Embrace of the Sith

By Mireille

2000/2012

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Good afternoon everyone! First of all, thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story's last post! Your comments really meant a lot to me!

Thanks to the two anonymous guests and Jaina Liu. I'm really happy that you like the use of the Vong's Embrace of pain in that Luke vs Emperor context. While the Vong device came in only a few months before I began the vote (before that, it was something else, but not as cool :)), while searching for something else on Wookieepedia, I loved it when it did just couldn't wait to play with that twist :) As for Luke displaying inner strength, you can look forward to more of that, I guarantee it :) (and Jaina, I'm hopelessly addicted to Luke angst stories, so ;P There's a lot more where that came from :)

Guest 2, to answer the question as to where L/V torture fics come from, the movies were just a mild version of what the universe truly was about ;P Some torture methods eventually became described in pro fics, and from there, we pushed the envelope, especially with Luke. There is so much potential for cool stories whenever he is pitted against that kind of challenge :) The sky's the limit, really ;P In regards to Vader's reaction, there will be some of that in this new part, but I'm not saying more :) Palpatine has more than one nasty surprise in store for them all ;P (or is it me for you? Eh eh ;P)

Thanks to all the reviewers! Knowing that I entertained you always makes my day and naturally incite me to return as fast as possible to the keyboard :)

Thanks as well for the favorites and alerts. I still hope to one day hear your thoughts in more details :)

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_Previously_: Vader captured his son and delivered him to Palpatine. He was then ordered to return to the fleet, reluctantly leaving his son alone with the Sith master who intended to irremediably break the boy's spirit. However, what Vader didn't know was that Palpatine set Luke up in an alien torture device called the Embrace of Pain, but modified to hold and monitor a Jedi as he was turned into a Sith servant while helping the process along. Only Palpatine knew where and what was his new little Sithling in training.

* * *

Here is the fourth part of the first of eleven stories that I felt like writing, but couldn't decide which to work on first.

After a whole summer of leaving the choice up to you, my valued readers, The Embrace of the Sith finished 6th. Therefore, while I will still add to this story on few occasions a year (like during vacation times), my focus will be on other stories for now. However, you know how to make me want to add more to this faster, right? ;P

Yup, you got it ;) You have to hit the button at the bottom of this post and do your reader thing :)

Please, don't hesitate to share your thoughts :D

* * *

Disclaimers: Nothing in the Star Wars Universe belong to me; everything belongs to George Lucas. I'm only writing stories for fun.

* * *

Part 4: A Battle of Wills

That evening, after retiring in his residence for the evening, and long after he had returned from his Sithling's secret cell in order to lead the rest of his day like usual, Palpatine finally dismissed his aides and closest servants, including his oldest ally Sate Pestage.

Even though his first advisor would, as usual, have several plans of collusion to share with him, plans that Palpatine never tired of as they served him so well against his various enemies, tonight, the Sith Master had different plans.

Indeed, tonight, he wanted to study his new Sithling from close up and see how he was faring so far against the embrace; he wanted to analyze what '_else_' he might need before the boy could ever become a true Sith.

It was a delicate operation that he was already relishing to the utmost as it had been far too long since he had indulged in that kind of pleasure. He could also look forward to a long process with this new challenge '_and_' he would have to be more subtle, more untractable and more resourceful than ever if he wanted to eventually turn the powerful and resilient boy into his own antithesis while asserting his absolute authority over his new servant.

He had also waited for years for this prize to be delivered to him so now, he really couldn't wait to toy with him. And toy with him, deceive him and manipulate him, he would, relying on half-truths and biased perceptions to confuse and eventually attract the bereft child to his side. He hadn't really had to rely on this level of deceit since before he had proclaimed himself Emperor; he wondered if he still excelled at it.

Feeling rejuvenated with the mere prospect of the fertile ground for trickery that was the young Sithling, he ordered his royal guards to deny entrance to anyone before he sealed his private rooms. From there, he penetrated inside secret quarters where he could access a secondary private network of passages that covertly allowed him to leave his residence through the '_public_' network of secret corridors that ran throughout all the levels of his palace; for safety reasons, the secondary network served as a buffer around his residence and its secrets entrances so that no one but him could make use of those exits.

He also took great precaution to never be disturbed, leaving such strict orders that his royal guards would go as far as to kill a servant if he/she insisted on entering the temporarily forbidden room.

Now in the '_public_' secret corridors, he walked away from his residence, Reached out to ensure that he was alone for the next minute, and then accessed his private turbolift after opening its concealed access panel with the Force and his handprint.

Minutes later, when he stepped out of his lift and the door of the cell slid open, the lights were still increasing in intensity after being turned back on even as the arrival of his lift had initiated the withdrawing of the ysalamiri frames until the Force was allowed back in the cell while the lizards still created a perimeter that no Force user could penetrate, and that was only in case one of them ever mentally stumbled on its existence.

Despite that routine however, his trapped Sithling was still undergoing torture, his icy blue eyes glazed by a haze of pain while the few fingers that weren't stuck to the embrace twitched then and again in unspoken signs of ongoing agony.

The boy was also still trying to scream in protest, but he had since lost what had been left of his voice.

Pleased by those first results, Darth Sidious stepped closer to the alien device and stroke the manual control that had been part of the modifications that had been added to suit his needs. Thanks to it, he could lower the device's settings for a while, allowing him to interact with his unbroken apprentice for as long as he wished.

Once the embrace obeyed his manual command, Sidious gave his slave a moment to gather his awareness. Meanwhile, he studied his physical conditions and liked what he saw. The long slices that adorned his left thigh looked quite painful and they were still seeping blood. He also noticed that there were several puncture marks amidst the boy's bloody scars and they, too, didn't look comfortable in any way, oozing with yellowish pain-enhancing poison.

As for the tentacle that covered his throat, it had found his main blood vessels and presently appeared to be sucking small quantities of the red substance in an attempt to hasten his physical weakening.

The softening phase was proceeding just as he had foreseen, he smiled in mean content. Now, it was time for him to begin the mental sowing.

* * *

Luke was gratefully falling unconscious when a tightening of his already-searing left thigh drew him back to a fully-aware status.

"Oh no, my little Sithling, there shall be no respite for the rebellious," Palpatine warned and Luke could only wonder when the other had returned. "How do you like your accommodations so far? I imagine that they are gloriously unique, at least based on what the alien race told me about it."

"Why don't… you give it a try and find... out?" Luke half-whispered but the Emperor still heard him perfectly.

"I trust your word, my child. Besides, your Force presence tells me everything that I need to know. However, I can see that even that much pain it is still not enough to unbalance you."

The Sith master then touched his shoulders - and Luke gasped as the enemy mercilessly dug his claw-like nails deep into his injured flesh. He reflexively twitched in a vain attempt to escape his reeking touch, only to hurt himself worst with the help of his stuck skin.

"Let's find out if this might help," Palpatine said mock-gently - and then his expression became vicious and sharp electricity bit into Luke's skin and muscles even as his captor began to rake his nails down his naked flesh, leaving deep grooves in his wake.

Then, as if that wasn't enough already, more excruciating energy bolts bit into his trapped back as the embrace absorbed the electric bolts from him, only to refract them back into him.

The youth couldn't help but try and arch up and away from the new attack, only to torment himself worse than ever through his stuck skin while strangling himself further against the unrelenting grip across his throat.

Palpatine interrupted his actions a moment and shook his hooded head at him in mock-disapproval. "Tsk tsk tsk, aren't you tired of suffering like this?"

Before Luke could answer again, another blast electrocuted him twice, more strongly than before.

And then another interruption followed.

"You already know that this is but the softening phase. However, are you also aware that, however long you manage to resist what will follow, your current pain will still remain pointless in the end?"

"Never," the Jedi silently replied- and was instantly punished when, in addition to his left hand still on his chest, Palpatine dug his long claws into his throbbing left thigh and zapped him there as well.

This time, Luke would have screamed for bloody murder but he was truly voiceless now.

With the increased intensity of the bolts, the embrace began returning the bolts of blistering energy not only in his back but also through the tentacles and the thorns that held him.

Now his whole body was afire with Sith lightning '_and_' writhing in an attempt to escape the agony of his boiling blood, blistering muscles and searing bones.

Or so he felt anyway.

He then almost passed out from the sensation of almost ripping his own skin off his back when the torment suddenly stopped once again.

He could only pant in continued pain and deep-seated relief.

"Compared to you, Lord Vader is a weakling, but then, he didn't have '_your_' mother. Unfortunately for you, you have inherited her stubborn character," Palpatine sneered in disgust.

Luke, for his part, couldn't help but be curious about what had just been hinted at. His mother?.. He had never known her, had never even been '_told_' about her.

"In a way," the Sith went on, pulling slightly away from the more attentive youth, absentmindedly wiping his bloodied fingers on the cleaner part of the boy's bare chest "you are lucky that your father is not the impetuous apprentice that he once was or, like your mother, you wouldn't have survived his wrath for long."

Horror instantly overcame his features even before the Emperor's words registered completely in his addled brain. Vader had what?

He mouthed a 'no' of disbelief, which was answered by a gleeful sneer.

"I see that he omitted to mention that to you, huh? Yes, my poor child, your father killed your mother while she was still pregnant with you. In fact, you were born prematurely because of his attack. I was told that she died just after giving birth to you."

It was too much. Luke couldn't believe it, couldn't accept it. He could accept that his father would torture his own son and cut off his hand, but this...

* * *

Palpatine revelled in the despair that he had awoken in his new and still naive apprentice. It was all too easy.

"It was '_I_' who taught him temperance after that for, had she lived, your mother would have remained useful to us for a longer while. Her demise would have been especially much more grandiose if he hadn't been so immature and impatient. However, that is all in the past, isn't it," he commented dismissively, conscious that his uncaring attitude would only irritate the boy further.

And it did.

"Let bygones be bygones, as they say. Of course, though" he added, as if in afterthought when, in fact, he had planned to twist the knife some more into the boy's fragile heart, "your mother left such an indelible mark as the leader of her people that she is not really gone, at least not from the minds of her contemporaries. In fact, it was her unwavering leadership and enterprising spirit that actually led to her untimely demise."

The boy was staring mutedly at him, his eyes wide in horror and disbelief.

Palpatine refrained from cackling in satisfaction and instead shrugged his shoulders slightly while he paced a little in front of the listening boy. "Perhaps, if she hadn't gone after him, she would have survived the first days of Vader. Still, he was so unpredictable… Still is," he went on mock-conversationally, raising his head and focusing his sulfurous gaze on his slave, "as you have figured out by now, I'm sure."

In front of him, the blond youth was now positively seething with anger and disgust.

The Emperor pretended to ignore his display of temper. "The character traits that you inherited from her will make you a great and powerful imperial commander-in-chief, but it is your Skywalker temper and Force inheritance that will give you the necessary power to harness the Force as it should be. You will make a magnificent Sith apprentice, my little Sith spawn."

This time, the boy couldn't resist the temptation and lashed out at him with the Force, using his anger and hatred and ongoing pain to focus his powers. The Emperor was ready for him and easily deflected what should have pushed him well clear across the cell.

He chortled in derision at the youth. "Is that all you can do? We will have to remedy to that as well, then."

His Sithling naturally made a second attempt, even more focused than before. It was just as easily neutralize, but it had truly been more intense than the first attempt.

The boy was powerful, indeed.

Although he was satisfied by this encouraging result in regards to the boy's volatile temper, Palpatine still glared angrily at the youth and harshly clasped his head between his hands. "I am your master, slave. You will '_never_' attack me again or you will live to truly rue the day that you were born." With that, he raised the embrace's current level of activity even as he blasted bolts of lightning straight in the boy's head.

Although he was careful to keep the intensity of his attack to a minimum - he didn't want to kill him, after all - the youth's shriek of agony still resounded through the Force even though he didn't Reach out to transmit it.

Palpatine still wasn't satisfied, though, and added to the overall non-lethal torment by deep-probing the boy's mind, making sure to make him suffer as much as possible while he mentally burrowed in his brain.

The first lesson would be learnt and he would never have to repeat himself, no matter how please he had been by the boy's powerful hatred directed at both him and his father.

To hate him was acceptable, but to defy him was not.

He planted that command and rule deep within the boy's psyche and remained there, tormenting him onward until he felt too drained to maintain his effort.

When he withdrew, it was to the sight of the youth's nose and bitten lips bleeding while his eyes were rolling backward in near unconsciousness. His hair was also partly singed from the steady grip of his flashing fingers, and his skin had been punctured by his long nails.

The embrace, for its part, had introduced extra catheters in the boy's neck and what he knew to be pain-enhancing drugs were once again pumped into the convulsing youth, magnifying his remaining agony tenfold.

"Never act against me ever again, slave," he warned him out loud, just for good measure, and then clasped his Sithling's head once again.

The boy inhaled sharply in fear of a repeat, but it wasn't what Sidious had in mind. Instead, he found the youth's Force presence and, using it as a connection to the Force, drew more power into him so as to recover faster from the exertion of breaking his new slave.

The procedure was not painless for the youth and he felt him mentally struggle to put an end to it, but a painful warning from his master's part and the fight was over.

Palpatine then rejuvenated himself by tapping into the well of limitless power that was his little Sithling's true potential.

When he left him, several hours later, the youth was devoid of every source of energy that he had had left when Sidious had entered the cell.

It pleased him, as did the boy's renewed mental screams of anguish just before his mental voice was cut off by the ysalamiri bubble once it set back into place now that his lift had left the floor.

The conversion would not happen overnight, he now knew, but he '_would_' twist the brat to his side.

It was only a matter of when.

* * *

Four days after leaving Coruscant, the Executor had rejoined the fleet that was waiting for its commander-in-chief before launching its final attack against the unsuspecting rebels.

Their lord had already briefed his admirals and generals from a distance and they were now ready to defeat the enemy once and for all.

Vader, for his part, sat quietly in his meditation pod, immersing himself in the Force to try and see what was happening to his son, back on Coruscant. However, either because he wasn't doing it right, or because the boy was surrounded by ysalamiri, he couldn't pierce the veil of mystery.

Given Sidious' '_fondness_' for the cursed lizards, Vader soothed his frayed nerves by assuring himself that they were the reason for his absence of results. Yet, that thought didn't relieve him nearly as much as he'd like. After all, his son was still alone with his cruel master and undergoing only Force knew what form of torment.

While he had been searching for his son, Vader had always planned to be present for when Luke would be broken by the Emperor, offering support however he could while helping to hasten along the process.

He had intended to '_shield_' the boy from the Sith Lord, not… abandon him to his master's cruel care.

Force knew what the despot was telling Luke about his father and himself. He could only hope that, whatever was going on with his little Jedi, the youth would be just as resilient now as he had been when they had first met.

The warning signal suddenly drew him out of his musings and he reluctantly lowered his mask back over his face before he returned to the rest of the galaxy.

They had arrived.

* * *

Even though Death Squadron showed up on the Rebels' radars in the middle of the night cycle, the Alliance troops were still alert enough to mount a defense that would, hopefully, be enough to allow as many ships to escape as possible.

Leia, Han, Chewie and Lando, who had already been aboard the Falcon when the alarms had gone off, were now on their way into the melee.

They had barely cleared the group of fleeing capital Rebel ships when another squadron of the imperial fleet came out behind the regrouping Rebel fleet, cutting off that escape route with their interdictors.

"They're trying to box us in!" someone called frantically over the rebel channel and Leia, who was manning the quad guns at the top of the Falcon, heard Han mutter: "Gee, ya think?"

"I knew it was a bad idea to gather all our leaders in one place. After all, the odds were seven-hundred-thousand and-"

"Never tell me the odds, Goldenrod," Han ground out, interrupting the nervous machine. "Leia, it's your call. What do you want to do?"

"Mon Mothma?" she asked even as she aimed at the nearest TIE fighters.

"Escape while you can, your Highness," General Rieekan answered her in Mon Mothma's stead. "They have boarded Home one. We can't get out, but you still can. Keep the Alliance alive, Princess."

"No, I won't-" Leia reflexively objected.

"Leia," her fellow Alderaanian survivor and dear friend said with much less formality. "Take as many as you can and get out of here."

"But-"

"There's nothing you can do '_but_' save our cause, Princess. Leave now, before it's too late."

"So what are we waiting for?" Lando inquired from the lower gun turret, addressing Han who was already flying toward one of the remaining hole left in the Imperials' textbook pincer formation.

"All wings, report in," Han called formally, taking the lead from the still undecided rebel princess. "Retreat, I repeat, retreat. Forget the defense strategy and escape. We'll-"

Chewie suddenly cut him off, growling a vociferous warning and everyone looked around in search of a new threat. Even without understanding Shriiwook, all of them quickly figured out what he had been talking about.

A third and fourth group of imperials had come out of hyperspace and had emerged right into the previously empty spaces of the pincer formation.

"Gotta race those interdictors, Han!" Calrissian called out.

"Already on it, whattadaya think?"

Chewie woofed something.

"That close, huh? Well, transmit the information to the fighters while I take us into position."

"Into position for what?" Leia frowned, recovering her edge in face of the growing threat.

"You'll see, Sweetheart. It's me, remember?"

"That's what I'm afraid of," she answered but a fond smile graced her lips while she did. Yes, it was her Han, whom Lando and Chewie had managed, almost miraculously, to retrieve from Boba Fett.

After Luke had failed to return from his latest mission, she had been ready to crumple right there and then when the incredible news of Han's rescue had spared her the humiliation of losing what was left of her appearance of unwavering strength and resilience.

The extraordinary news had been completely unexpected, as her friends hadn't been supposed to be able to go anywhere near Fett's ship; they had only been hoping to locate Slave 1 and report the information quickly enough for Leia and a rescue team to rejoin them before Fett changed location yet again.

In the end, however, the Force had been with them and her lover was back! He was safe and sound, and he was back in her arms!

She had been so delighted to have recovered him that she had literally barricaded them in her quarters. They had finally emerged from them only once they had dealt with all the emotions and loss moments of the past four months. Thus, it was only three days after Han's return that she finally heard the whole story of the miraculous rescue. Han, who had only known that he had been saved before he had been brought home, hadn't heard it either before then.

As it had been, Lando and Chewie had been checking a lead on Fett when they had unexpectedly found the camouflaged and abandoned Slave 1 in the docks of the dingy space station. They had then neutralized the outer alarm before carefully checking inside, only to find Han's block strapped manually near the cockpit; they had been wary about Fett's infamous inner security, but to their incredulity, it had appeared to have been sabotaged.

From there, it had been failrly simple to thaw Han out and carry him back to the Falcon.

After his return to Leia's side, it had taken Han an extra two days to recover his eyesight and complete health, but he was finally back to his old self, and they were yet again in trouble.

"Han, old buddy," Lando whined in concern.

"I know, I know. I can see it."

"See what?" she asked, refocusing on the here and now.

"The interdictor's cone is stabilizing. It's now or never, buddy."

'Please, please, please,' Leia silently prayed the gods, 'don't let it be the end, please!'

"All right, here goes nothing."

Leia heard the whine of the hyperdrive as it strained to engage and for a moment, it looked like they were doomed. Then, to her eternal gratefulness, the stars finally elongated under the influenced of the Doppler effect and they blessfully leapt out of imperial reach.

Behind them, half of the fighters and a few transport ships managed to follow but the rest of the fleet, including Home One and all their new allies, were all left to be pounded at by the imperials. In Home One's case, however, they were targeted for boarding and securing operations, which was even worse than death by explosion.

It was a really bad day for the Alliance.

* * *

On Coruscant, Luke Skywalker was drowning in an ocean of indescribable suffering as well as in his delirious thoughts. Except for a moment of respite after Palpatine had punished him to the brink of death, which he hadn't been aware of since he had been unconscious until he had recovered his senses and that his unbearable headache was gone, the young rebel hadn't been allowed to either sleep or rest from his pain in any way. The alien tormentor simply kept the levels of agony high enough to always stimulate him.

Palpatine had not returned yet, either, making it one of the longest day in Luke's life, although he suspected that several days had actually gone by him since the despot's last visit.

The Sith was just trying to confuse him, as was the basic procedure of any questioning technique. In his case, however, the darksider was not after information but his very soul.

If he hadn't been shuddering already from pain – the only physical reaction he could have while he was bound as he was – Luke would be shuddering in revulsion. How could such evil even exist? How could his father have any part in it? And if his father was a monster, then what kept him from becoming one as well?

For the moment, whenever he felt like nourishing his anger and hatred, what helped him to avoid the worst was his attempt to mentally recite the Jedi code. However, even that hold on reality was becoming tenuous at best because he first needed to think to recite it, and the '_embrace_' made sure that he couldn't.

Think, that was.

He jerked up – doubly tormenting himself yet again while temporarily restraining his air supply further – when the pain ratcheted up once again, probably to punish him for thinking even that much.

This time, the blasted alien rack swiftly heated up to a burning sensation that seared his stuck skin. Then, just as fast, it was over- and electric shocks painfully pricked his over-sensitized stuck skin while the rest of all his other tortures went on, inside and on his body.

The claws that were permanently stuck in his back also shifted and/or wiggled within his skin, reopening his wounds while hurting him worse than ever while their sharp edges grated horribly against his bones. The combined agony of his back alone sent jolts of unbearable suffering that went up his spine and into his jaws and cranium, as well as down and all the ways to his clenched toes.

And that was '_only_' one of the torments that he was currently undergoing.

As usual, his attempts to thrash out of reach of his prison of various tortures only worsened to his predicament.

The trapped youth silently howled, convulsed uncontrollably, and felt tears stream down his forehead and into his dirty hair.

His unfair and harrowing persecution went on, much to the alien's apparent pleasure as the tentacle that held his throat shivered against his flesh just before it worsened even further his plight.

* * *

Today was the day that Palpatine was putting in place the final preparations for the next phase of his plan to break his Sithling's spirit, a phase that he was '_most_' looking forward to.

After he took delivery of a top-secret cargo that had '_arrived_' in his private hangar bay, his royal guards equipped the sealed crate with portable repulsorlifts and handles before they steered it into a high-security armored transport speeder in which cargo bay they locked themselves in. After that, more Royal Guards took position around the locked power door while a complement of his security guards and an entire squad of regular troopers boarded the armored ship. Another squad of troopers were waiting to escort them outside and through the temporarily cleared traffic corridor that led from the palace to the Imperial Museum.

With everyone in place as they should be, Palpatine regally boarded his luxury and armored coach while four more royal guards took their positions to ensure '_his_' safety.

They had barely left the safety of his shielded hangar bay that they were already landing inside the currently heavily-protected delivery zone of the institutional building.

As per his orders, Sate Pestage was already there, waiting with the portly director of the prestigious museum and an army of the man's underlings. His oldest ally had prepared everything he had requested: the museum had been cleared of everyone but them, it had been checked for threats at least twice over, and the temporary enclosure of his special display station had been removed, along with the construction droids.

Now, each and every one of the scholars left to witness his arrival were both elated and scared of being in their Emperor's unnerving and imposing presence.

As it should be.

The moment that he stepped out of his coach, they all bowed in respect; Palpatine relished the feelings of dominance over weaklings for a second longer before he motioned Pestage back to his feet, and then the director he had appointed there himself. Behind him, his faithful guards had left the cargo hold and had floated their delivery item behind him. As per his orders, no one but his royal guards was allowed near it and a cordon of troopers swiftly surrounded the assigned carriers while the rest of his servants assumed their respective positions.

"If I may ask, your Highness," the director – whose name he forgot even though he had confirmed his choice for this position – inquired, "what is it? Is it a dangerous Jedi artefact? A remains of great value? Or a weapon that is now prohibited?"

Palpatine smiled thinly at the man's inquisitiveness. If even the experienced and ambitious scholar couldn't figure out what the Emperor's personal contribution to Lord Vader's upcoming exhibition would be, than nobody would, not even the object of the permanent new exhibit. "It shall be revealed only at the opening, my friend. We wouldn't want to spoil Lord Vader's surprise, now would we?"

And what a surprise it would be when, on the day of the victory celebration that had been in preparation in Imperial city since the previous day, he would also publicly reveal to Vader what had '_happened_' to his spawn during his absence. After that day, the father/son dynamic that might have ruined all his best efforts with the child will not be of concern anymore. He most-definitely looked forward to that day.

"Of course not, your Highness. Forgive my rudeness."

"Apology accepted," he replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Shall we?"

While they made their way toward the main exhibition room, the director fawned over his Emperor, thanking him for his contributions and allowing them to hold even daring pre-Empire exhibits. Then, he inquired if, after they open Lord Vader's permanent shrine, he had planned other special projects just as grandiose as this one proved.

Already bored by the devoted administrator, Palpatine silently signaled to Sate Pestage to answer for him. By doing so, he was wordlessly reminding the sycophant that there was an order to everything and that, even when in the presence of their Emperor, one didn't address him directly unless allowed to.

"His Highness has several and much more important concerns than a museum's next project. Lord Vader, being our champion and protector against the Rebel anarchists, was an exception that will rarely, if ever, find an equal in his Highness' esteem."

'Except, perhaps, for the son of the father,' Palpatine mused in private amusement. Indeed, what Lord Vader had accomplished, Sidious was confident that his unnamed Sithling would someday outdo tenfolds.

He then refrained from chortling in amusement while he heard more of his old acolyte's admonitions. Pestage could be '_so_' formal and protective when given free reign, he smiled thinly. If he only knew just how powerful his '_friend_' truly was, but then, the illusion of frailty had always served Palpatine best and so, he tolerated being shielded as if he were weak. He even encouraged this kind of approach even though he was in the same room than the ongoing and belittling conversation in his regards.

Truthfully, the bickering of the non-Force sensitives amused him, reminding him why it had been the Sith's fate – his fate - to rule over them, hence why the Force's Chosen One had been '_his_' ally instead of the Jedi's.

"Ah, here we are."

His royal guards assumed an even more defensive position around him while half of the remaining troops surveyed the empty room before clearing them through.

Unlike the visitors that would go through an organised trek in a way that would take them through the '_official_' history of the Dark Lord of the Sith, Sidious and his small entourage came in near the exit and headed toward the last-before-last station of the strategically-planned journey.

While this shrine project had been in the making for the past months, the unexpected arrival of the man's son on Coruscant had triggered a new plan in Sidious' head and he had modified the destination of that particular station before creating a large security perimeter in which he had sent construction droids with top-secret security and intel equipment, as well as plans that he had designed himself.

Days and nights since then, the droids had been hard at work installing the ultimate security system that he had designed for his special contribution while two squads of elite stormtroopers had kept any curious bystanders well away from even the security enclosure. His special installation had slightly slowed down the work on the final touches of the rest of the exhibition, but he was confident that the museum could catch up with the sudden requirement of being ready in time for the scheduled return of Lord Vader, in three days from now.

They had to, at least if they wanted to retain their job, or any other job opportunity they might have in the future. He would not accept any delay or missing detail with what would be a perfect public homage to his subdued servant - as well as yet another way for him to assert his complete dominance over his wily apprentice.

From time to time, he still had to remind Lord Vader of his place, and what a better opportunity than the one offered by that day that would inflate his slave's ego a little too much if he didn't intervene like he was planning.

When his group finally turned the corner that led to the waiting display station, Palpatine took a moment to study the results so far. Illuminated by an overhead light, the raised pedestal waited innocuously for its subject of display.

At least that's what everyone else saw.

As per his designs, there were no traces whatsoever of the military grade laser field that was primed to form the impenetrable fence that would surround his prized display. There were no signs either of the stun grids and high-caliber weapons that would defend said perimeter if the field fluctuated in any way - like if someone tried to cross through it, for example.

"Unpack it and position it with the grey surface against the back wall," he calmly ordered his faithful guards who had prepared the crate for unpacking.

He watched them with great anticipation as the blindly-obedient men unsealed the crate, exposing the darkened block of transparisteel that it contained. Then, half of them used temporary handles to secure a grip on the heavy block while the others turned off the repulsorlifts of the crate, allowing it to fall down while its content was held aloft.

Beside him, the morbidly curious museum director craned his neck to try and see what the revealed block contained, but it was useless; Palpatine had had the block equipped with a darkening outer screen so that he could hide its content whenever he wished.

Even the eyes of the normally passive-looking Sate Pestage tracked the intriguing enclosure for as long as it hadn't been set into place on its pedestal.

Smiling thinly to himself, Palpatine allowed his guards to pull back and into position before he hobbled close to his very unique torture device and pretended to make last-minute checks on it. He also double-checked that its opaque side was pressed flat against the back wall.

After all, he had to make sure that his new masterpiece of cruelty would face forward and not backward.

Nodding in silent approval, he then carefully stepped back beyond the safety line that was marked on the floor and spoke in the concealed comlink of his hood.

The control station located in his Sithling's secret cell confirmed his voice and passwords and activated the laser field of the museum installation.

Only the unexpected surge of a blue line of energy warned those present that a field of some kind had been turned on before the surrounding field became completely invisible to everyone's eyes.

"Set up your own impenetrable safety perimeter, Director," he ordered the portly man. "We wouldn't want any unfortunate citizen to stumble in the security field and be disintegrated."

The Sith master was amused by the fat man's loss of composure and watched him trip over his own feet as he fell into action and ordered his own aides to make sure that the safety line on the floor would not be crossed by anyone.

Satisfied that everything had proceeded as he had planned, Palpatine silently turned away and left the insignificant individuals to their new tasks. Slowly, he hobbled his way out of the darkened maze, Sate Pestage following him while his royal guards hurried to position themselves ahead and behind him.

The rest of his imposing security detail also formed a safe corridor for him, unwittingly guiding him back toward the delivery bay.

Enough pleasantries, he admonished himself on his way there. It was time to prepare for his right arm's triumphant return.

He cackled malevolently at the prospect of Lord Vader's reaction to his 'unique' gift to him, and his surrounding servants couldn't help but shudder in dread for as long as he was within earshot.

* * *

Near Athega, Leia insistently drew back and forth the toggle switch of the communication system, trying – for the hundreth time since they had come out of hyperspace – to establish contact with other survivors of Sullust.

"I repeat, this is Alpha one. If you are out there, please, respond. We need to set up a rendezvous point."

Only silence answered her, as it had for the past forty-eight hours.

"Maybe they didn't-" Lando began.

"Lando..." Han glared at him from the piloting seat before he stood up and stepped closer to Leia, who was showing signs of growing distress. "Hey, Princess, I'm sure they are still in hyperspace, that's all."

"Or else it's not safe for them to answer for now."

"But what if we are too far from one another to establish contact?" Leia inquired, looking up at him with tear-brimming eyes. "What if we are all that's left of the Alliance? What if… we've been...?"

Han leaned closer to his lover and kissed the crown of her braided hair. "Ssssh, let's not think the worse yet, huh? Besides, we'll pull through, Leia. We always do. You'll see. For now, though, we can only wait."

"Your Highness," Threepio offered, his servos whiring closer. "I can monitor the communication device for you while you take a rest. You haven't slept since the battle."

"Good idea for once, Goldenrod," Han agreed before he took the transmitter from Leia's unresponsive hands and gently pulled her to her feet before she could protest. "You heard the professor, Sweetheart. Off you go now. Get some rest while you can. There's no telling when you'll have another opportunity."

"But," Leia protested feebly although she didn't fight against Han's pull on her left hand.

She '_was_' tired, he realized. "Lando, keep us out of sight, will you?"

If his friend was shocked that he was handing the Falcon's controls over to him, he didn't say anything. "Huh, sure thing, buddy."

Han then led his beloved out of the cramped cockpit and toward the quarters that they now shared. Unlike what he expected from her, she remained silent and even withdrawn, and he became aware that she was finally allowing herself to cry.

"Ssssh," he soothed her, drawing her into his arms. "It's all right, Leia. Everything will be all right."

"No, Han," she wept in answer. "It's not all right. The Alliance is all but dead, the last of the Jedi has disappeared, probably captured by Vader and the Empire, and we can't reach our allies anymore. It's not all right at all and I can't... I... It's like Alderaan all over again..."

Han remained silent while she spoke, and then tightened his arms around her and gently rocked them both in comfort. "You don't have to always be strong, Leia, and especially not when we're alone," he reassured her, and her sobs morphed into genuine cries of sadness and despair while she held onto his jacket for dear life. "It's all right," he continued to soothe her while he slowly guided her toward their quarters. "It's all right."

He didn't know what else to say, or even if he could say anything to help her, but he vowed to do everything that he could to support and comfort her. Consequently, he let her soak his jacket with her extremely rare tears, aware that for her to cry like this, she had almost reached the end of her tether.

As he had said before, she was only human and she had been holding up a strong front for far too long.

Today's defeat was the last straw that had finally broken the dewback's back. Her back.

"What about Luke, Han?" she asked in the silence, her voice muffled by his chest. "I can't help but think that he is once again undergoing torture… I… I even feel like I can sometimes feel echoes his pain."

"We'll find him and free him, Princess, don't worry," he reassured her. "We did it once; we can do it again, and Luke will once again survive whatever they do to him. I just know it."

"But he was so broken after Bespin, Han... You didn't see him... Vader had hurt him in a way far worse than physical… What if the monster did it again and this time, he succeeded?.."

"He won't," Han objected, adamant. "Luke is, after you, the strongest-willed person out there. Whatever Vader can dish out at him, the kid can either deflect, survive, or ignore."

"Han…," she sobbed again, looked up at him with her shiny eyes, and then wrapped her arms back around his waist and buried her head against his strong chest. "Just hold me, please."

And he did just that, for as long as needed.

He had to be her rock and shelter in the new storm, the worst ever.

He would not fail her.

* * *

If Luke could still have screamed, he would have, but no more sound came out of his throat even though his mouth was still silently going through the motions.

The tyrant – with the help of a torture droid - had begun whipping him '_into shape_' as he said, turning his exposed body parts into a sight of bloody welts and stinging cuts. Then, when he couldn't see a new spot to hurt, he'd douse his body with bacta and wait for it to heal him - while it also '_burnt_' its way through his skin, torturing him still.

Meanwhile, as if it wasn't enough, the Sith would keep tormenting him with his lightning bolts and mental probes, and then start again with the droid.

Finally, through it all, the alien was replicating each and every new wound on his stuck body parts, using its cursed razor-sharp blades to do the work.

Those weren't healed, though, and so, the more he was hit by the Emperor's whip, the less those parts were cut in uninjured spots; he reluctantly found out that the slashes over untended injuries hurt twice as much as over merely-sensitized skin.

"I can't wait to start the main program, my friend," the despot smirked heartlessly at him from a safe distance from the whipping droid. "Oh, did you think that we had already begun?" he taunted him next. "No," he shook his head, "I'm afraid that it is still too early for that. No, this is still merely the phase of preparation. Can you imagine what it will be like when the real torture begins?" he all but breathed in anticipation.

Luke couldn't help but be extremely afraid of what could be worse than what he had already suffered and was currently experiencing.

"Did you know that your father was called the Hero with no fear, my child? Of course, that was a title that '_I_' gave him for my own purposes, but the media latched onto it with great delight. As for your arrogant father, he quite enjoyed the attention that it generated for him. Thanks to the media, he was famous, well-loved by almost everyone, and everyone acknowledged his great powers whether they were on his side or not."

Despite the ongoing torture, Luke couldn't help but hear the Sith's words; he sneered in disgust at how vain and superficial his father had been even before he had become Vader.

"The truth was, however, that Anakin Skywalker was scared of '_everything_'."

The Emperor shut down the droid yet again and stepped closer to the silently whimpering boy and forced him to look at him.

"In fact, even to this day, he is still scared of even his own shadow. Your father is nothing but a coward, my child. When you give in, I will tell you his deepest, darkest fears, and you will be able to defeat him using those against him. He truly is a monster, scaring even innocents citizens to hide his own dread from everyone's notice."

The temptation to give into his anger was becoming stronger with each passing moment but Luke continued to fight it. He would '_not_'… not…

"Think how you could avenge yourself and them, my child. Don't you want it? Haven't you dreamt of it? It is now but within your grasp," Palpatine tempted him further, illustrating his point by holding his closed fist in front of Luke's still pain-glazed eyes. "You only need to embrace the Dark Side and you will be strong enough - stronger than any Jedi, and even stronger than Darth Vader - to defeat your cruel sire."

No… Luke thought, hanging onto that single idea and word even though he couldn't remember why or who had told him that it was extremely important to always resist the temptation to stop controlling himself.

All that mattered anymore was that he hung and acted onto this word and nothing else.

In front of him, Palpatine shrugged nonchalantly and, after stepping away and retreating to his safe zone, reactivated for the droidfor another whipping cycle.

Luke bore it as best as he could; he couldn't escape it anyway but how he wished, oh how he wished…

But no, he would not give in to his dark side, never.

He would not be twisted into another Vader. He would die first.

A new round of lightning bolts suddenly drew him out of his semi-trance and he gasped for air upon release.

The droid was once again floating in standby while the Emperor stepped closer yet again.

"It has just occurred to me, my young friend, that I have omitted to mention a very important detail to you." The despot stepped up to the trapped boy and pushed his index finger under his slave's chin to draw his attention to his words. "You might be quite resilient to my lightning bolts, but your body isn't. In fact, the decalcification process is probably already underway by now."

Decalcification process? Luke frowned tiredly.

He then followed Palpatine's movement with his eyes, felt the man take hold of his free left index finger- and grimaced hard yet again when he felt his enemy crush the bone of his fingertip with only the pressure of his fist.

"Yes, they are definitely brittle now," the Sith master smirked in self-satisfaction. You see," he explained, switching to his '_mentor_' mode as Luke had come to call it, "my little Sith trick has a very nasty side effect: by slowly burning away part of your bones' calcium, it weakens them to the point that microfractures appear even after a first exposure. With repeated exposures like what you have been asking for," he went on, a nasty expression plastered on his horribly chapped lips, "the microfractures increase in size, fragilizing the bones further until a mere touch or even the normal pressure of your own weight on them can break them."

Before he could react to this horrifying discovery, Luke silently shrieked again as Palpatine squeezed his whole left thumb next, also breaking it in several places.

"The longer you delay your release, the worst the situation will be, and the harder it will be to heal you with even the best of the bacta. Soon," Palpatine went on meaningfully, "only bone transplants will be able to fix you properly, a surgery that is extremely painful, I'm told. Then," he shrugged, "if you wait even longer, nothing but a cyborg body will allow you to walk ever again. Not that it would not be fitting, of course," he smiled maliciously, leaning closer to the distraught youth. "Like father, like son."

*Never!" Luke Sent, enraged and frightened to his core. *I will never turn. I'll die first!"

Palpatine smirked at his small victory over his slave's resolve. "Nuh-uh, my little Sithling, I won't allow it. I am your master now and the faster you learn this lesson, the easier your recovering circumstances will be."

*Never."

Luke was punished by a new round of lightning bolts even as Palpatine reactivated the complete control of the embrace over its prisoner. "Why don't you squeeze his limbs a little more, my pet?" he suggested next after putting an end to his actions.

Luke didn't have time to retort before the embrace obeyed the verbal command. He instantly felt all his major bones crack under the increased pressure and trashed in agony, breaking more of his bones when he moved too much or too quickly.

He then struggled against Palpatine's grip on his head, aware that the other was going to sap him yet again from all his extra strength provided by his brief contact with the Force.

However, no matter how strong the temptation was to just reach out and Shove him away with all his anger and hatred, he still resisted, the image of himself in Vader's helmet being a very strong deterrent in regards to the only other choice he had left.

Thus, he bore it all yet again, praying the Force to simply end him right there and then.

Either It didn't hear him, or the embrace didn't allow him to die… again.

The excruciating torture went on, trapping him onward in the blistering throes of agony of his physical body.

* * *

It took four days for Executor and the bulk of the imperial fleet to return from Sullust with twelve hours to spare for the preparations of the demonstrations that would accompany the return of their hero to the galactic capital.

Considering the number of prisoners that they were bringing back, as well as the specific instructions that they had received in regards to how they would be displayed to the galactic public, Vader's subalterns had their work cut out organizing the transports. They had to both keep the prisoners' movements to a minimum while selecting means of transportation that would make it planetside on their own. The fleet of star destroyers was schedule to remain in orbit and in high alert.

Security was also at its paroxysm planetside, just in case anyone had the stupid idea to attempt a rescue or make a statement by attacking during the victory celebration.

That left Vader with a lot of time to ponder his next actions.

The moment that he had been within sight of Coruscant, he had reached out for his son's presence, only to draw a blank yet again. However, he could Feel that Luke was still alive – his father's instinct was now stronger than even their family bond in the Force. His discovery, though, did not bode well as it could only mean that his son was still resisting the Emperor, even after ten days.

Considering the levels of pain that the Sith master was able to conjure up with the Dark Side of the Force, Vader was rather astounded that his son could resist the Sith ruler that long, and yet, he was also heartened by that findings.

After all, if Luke was still surrounded by ysalamiri, hence unbroken, then it meant that he was still mentally intact.

At least, he hoped so.

He had meditated a lot on his way in, leaving the prisoners' questioning to his master inquisitors. His meditation sessions had yielded little information save for one: if Palpatine ever had his way with the boy, his son would be lost to him.

'_That_', he resolved yet again, he would not allow. He would defeat Palpatine by himself if he had to, but he would '_not_' lose his son after finally finding him again.

First, however, he had to find the boy, and without a Force presence to home in on, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

From discreet inquiries, he already knew that the Jedi was not in any of the known or secret dungeons of the palace. It could only mean that his master had hidden him in one of his own secret cells, which only Palpatine knew about.

Now that would make any rescuing more complicated, he mused, sliding his gaze all over the surface of the planet-wide city beneath his ship. Where, but where, could his son be?..

* * *

Just like Palpatine had planned and pushed all his servants to achieve, the triumphant return of his Dark Lord of the Sith was the most grandiose celebration that had been held on Imperial Center since the inception of the Empire. He had not restrained himself with anyone, killing incompetents if necessary until the frantic pace of the past four days and nights had become the norm for everyone and everything involved in the preparation of the most important public display ever of his absolute power and galactic dominance.

Thus, the upper streets and buildings had been scrubbed clean to perfectly reflect the blaze of the Sun onto his victorious and unbeatable troops, and all the traffic lanes had been closed to allow complete control of the sky by his pilots and other loyal servants of the security departments.

The day had also been declared a galactic holiday so that everyone was able to witness his ultimate triumph, through Vader's, of course.

As for a live audience, the select few that were granted that privilege were either gathered in large stands that had been set up along the path of the parade for the occasion, providing seats that had been assigned by royal invitation only, while the less favored but no less powerful citizens that could afford the price of passage could amass on the selected rooftops that also lined the path of the victory parade.

For everyone else that wished to witness the celebration outside of their private residence, thousands of giant screens had been swiftly added to the existing ones and throughout the galaxy so that no one, wherever he was, would be unable to witness the might and power of the Galactic Empire.

Even from far away, all the holonet channels would be replaced by a single signal, the one dedicated to the recording of today's events. From the landing of the Dark Lord of the Sith to the unveiling of his master's gift to his efficient vassal, nothing would be missed by his billions of subjects.

On the plaza that led to the main entrance of the Imperial Museum, which had been decked out for the occasion with burgundy and gold drapes and flags that blew in the wind, displaying for the first time the new and official insignia of Lord Vader – an alteration of the old Jedi crest that only his apprentice would recognize as such - Palpatine and his extended retinue of aides, army generals, fleet admirals and grand moffs patiently waited for the cortege to slowly walk its way from the nearest navy port to them.

Like everywhere else in the galaxy, they watched on one of the giant screens when troops of the 501st battalion opened the parade, walking down the pedestrian street that led from the port to the museum. There were hundreds of them, their white armor and black pauldron shining under the noon sun. They were followed by AT-ST and equally-pristine looking troops on speederbikes while, overhead, four squadrons of TIE fighters and one of the latest TIE Advanced flew in tight formation.

They were followed by infantry troops, behind which came pilots in complete flight uniform and helmet, and then came commanding officers of various ranks. The higher ranked were carried by open-top speeders, their medals and rank pins gleaming from a fresh coat of polish.

Behind them followed hundreds of completely subdued Rebel prisoners, each and every one of them dressed in dirty rags and looking physically beaten. They were all tied to one another through slave collars and wore chains around their wrists and ankles. Those low-ranking prisoners were transported in a large carrier that was surrounded by a deflector field.

What no one knew, however, was that they were also held by invisible tethers in a submitted position so that none of them could glare in defiance at their captors and be '_seen_' doing so.

Captured fighters and weapons of large caliber were displayed next in another shielded carrier, as were images of the final battle that showed off the imperials' prowesses.

Finally, but not the least, Lord Vader himself closed the parade, standing stock still in front of a specially-designed transport that also carried the leaders of the Rebellion.

Like for their troops, their heads were also forcefully-bowed in defeat, but in their case, they were also discreetly locked-down on their knees.

The whole procession took well over an hour to reach its destination, and it took Vader an extra fifteen minutes to cover the rest of the plaza toward his master while red-clad Royal Guards took custody of the Rebels known as Mon Mothma, General Carlist Rieekan and General Crix Madine.

When Vader bowed in respect before his master, who had previously ordered him not to kneel for this rare occasion, every one else around them was wordlessly invited, through the troops' swift example, to kneel in the presence of their champion and their Emperor.

Palpatine, who was vastly enjoying himself on that special day, revelled even more in the sensation of victory while he watched thousands of non Force-sensitives willingly subject themselves to his rule. Even up on the rooftops and at the very end of the plaza, everyone fell to their knee, if not at first, then after receiving his mental and subconscious-mimicking compulsion.

If the boy were already by his side, he was confident that he would be able to make the whole planet kneel before him, if not the whole core. That, however, would be for another day as the brat kept holding onto the Light even after being subjected to his new form of torture.

"Rise, my friends," he began mock-solemnly, his voice carried clearly by the loud system that had been set up for the occasion. "Today, we are finally free from the horrors of the war. Today, at last, the Rebellion is no more."

A tempest of cheers answered his statement and he allowed it to ebb on its own.

"Today," he went on, several minutes later, "our valiant guardian of Peace and Justice, Lord Darth Vader, has not only captured the enemy's leadership, but he has also disbanded their troops and resources so that there is nothing left of them. At last, chaos is no more!"

Another wave of cheers answered his statement.

"Join me in thanking our Dark Lord of the Sith for his heroism, his courage and his dedication to our safety." He turned toward the taller form of his submitted servant and nodded at him. "You have our eternal gratitude, Lord Vader."

"I only did my duty, your Highness," Vader answered, as per their previous agreement, and then fell silent again.

Like Sidious had expected, the crowd fell head first for their hero's humility and hailed him even further.

Pleasantly aware that every moment of the ceremony was transmitted live and recorded for posterity, Palpatine kept his expression schooled. Inwardly, however, he was cackling in jubilation.

He then turned his attention to the rebel leaders that had been brought up the steps and forced back down once they were just below Lord Vader. "May your example be a warning to everyone who might ever dare defile this Empire ever again. We will '_never_' stand for terrorism and the death of civilians."

Behind him, Lord Vader turned on his blood-red lightsaber and stepped closer to the fallen enemies. With barely a nod of his head, he ordered him onward and, with only a minute sense of reluctance, his obedient servant publicly beheaded the three figureheads of the Rebellion.

They had been thoroughly questioned on their way to Coruscant, and Palpatine himself had scanned their minds while waiting for the beginning of the ceremonies so he had been certain that they hadn't held any further value for him but that of a perfect demonstration of the fate that befell traitors.

The watching crowd was still applauding their decisive action, their relief palpable through the Force.

The fools, he sneered inwardly. They were so easy to deceive, so naïve and stupid.

So very unlike the young man he was currently toying with. Even the boy's father had been easier to twist than him, and manipulating his mother into doing his bidding had been almost child's play besides the brat's level or resistance and emotional intelligence.

The Jedi had prepared him well for the challenge of their encounter, but no matter, he would break him all the same. It would only take more time than he had first expected.

"All the other prisoners will also meet that end," he stated out loud to the watching witnesses, "but not today. Today," he went on, mock-gratefully, "we celebrate our champion. Lord Vader, in honor of your dedication to the galaxy and the Empire, I hereby declare your official and permanent shrine open and would like you to be its first visitor."

Vader silently nodded in acquiescence although Palpatine could feel his servant's fury at his machinations and deceits. Vader simply didn't care about politics and his public demonstrations. He was a man of action, had always been, and would always be.

Strong of his experience with the ill-prepared youth that had become his loyal servant, Palpatine would make sure that Vader's successor would be prepared for all the duties he would have perform flawlessly.

For now, however, he was dealing with his irascible apprentice, who was greatly concerned about his son. Ah, but that, Palpatine smiled inwardly, would soon be put to rest.

Slowly, following Palpatine's weary-looking pace, the two Sith Lords walked toward the museum's entrance, followed by the Emperor's retinue and flanked by royal guards.

*Well done, my friend," he Sent Vader soothingly. *Soon, I will release you from this burden and you will be able to return to the shadows and deep space where you prefer to lurk."

*There are still a few rebels left out there, Master. We should not give them time to reorganize."

*And we shan't, my friend. We shan't. For now, however, I sense that you are concerned about your son."

*I am, my master."

*Do not worry, my friend," he mock-reassured him. *Soon, you will know everything you need to know about his circumstances. As you have gathered already, he is not cooperative in the least."

They had reached the darkly-coloured room where the shrine-like exhibition began. They slowly walked down its carefully-planned path, going through the '_official_' version of Vader's early years before he joined the Emperor.

*That is what worries me, Master. My son doesn't know what is best for him, but perhaps, now that you have exposed his choices to him, I could talk to him and might-"

*I'm afraid that is not possible for the moment, my friend."

That drew Vader's head completely around and he stopped walking, paralyzed by his stupor.

* * *

Palpatine motioned Vader onward. *You will soon know, Lord Vader. Come."

Hearing the unceasing muttered comments of their undesirable company of sycophants, and acutely aware that the camera droids were still recording and transmitting live each and every one of their actions, Vader forced himself back into motion and beside his master.

He had '_such_' a bad Feeling about all this...

If Luke was alive, but that his own father and captor couldn't talk to him at the moment, then what could his circumstances possibly be?

The Sith apprentice was so concerned about his son's fate that he barely noticed the details of the exhibit that had been set up in his honor. He truly didn't pay attention to all the manipulative lies and false clues of his make-believe personality that the Emperor had hidden in his fake history. What was the point, anyway. He already knew that the goal of that new tool of propaganda was to make '_him_' the hero '_and_' devil of the Empire.

While Palpatine was the benevolent ruler who was simply overwhelmed by the state of that galaxy that was still, after all this time, recovering from the corruption of the Republic, Lord Vader was the enforcer of the imperial policies, the Empire's unyielding shield that ensured everyone's safety and, when required, the lightsaber that became the harbinger of doom for their enemy.

According to the history told in his exhibition, Palpatine didn't have any special powers of his own, and it most certainly wasn't the former Chancellor-turned-Emperor who ordered Vader and the imperial troops to slaughter innocents.

It was never the Sith master who was the most powerful of the two and who had architected the fall of the Republic and of the Jedi order...

No, from now on, everyone would know that almost all the horrors that everyone heard about had been Vader's doing.

Vader didn't need to know more to understand that Darth Sidious had just successfully set him up to take the fall if he ever betrayed him, or if he became useless to him.

That was not new to the Dark Lord of the Sith as the Sith master had always praised him, only to rebuke and belittle him the following moment.

The effect of this new public display was also not his main concern right now. His only thoughts were for Luke… for his son...

"Ah, and here we are," Palpatine said, cutting in the silence that had only been punctuated by Vader's mechanical breathing and the muffled comments of the Emperor's retinue.

Vader, who had absentmindedly pretended to look at the displays they walked by even though he didn't actually '_look_' at them, turned toward the small and shriveled man; he involuntarily shuddered in dread when he noticed his master's malicious smile that no one but him could see because of his infrared lenses. "This, Lord Vader, is my personal contribution to this exhibit." Palpatine then resumed his proper expression of gratitude and turned back toward the floating droid cams. "It is a rare item, indeed, as well as one that, I believe, will have a very unique value to you."

Palpatine motioned to the director of the museum, who had been waiting for them at this station; even before the man had activated the function that was connected to the control that he pressed on, Vader felt his stomach sink down to his boots as a foreboding Feeling crawled up his spine.

No... he begged silently- and was denied his plea for mercy when the darkened block of transparisteel cleared up to reveal the frozen form of his beaten son.

He took a reflexive step closer—only to be held back by his master's Force before he could trigger any security system, or betray his horror instead of merely appearing surprised. "The display is heavily protected, my friend. Do not worry, the last of the Jedi will not escape '_or_' be retrieved ever."

"What..?" Vader began, and then stepped aside as if to study the cruel exhibition from a closer point of view while remaining well clear of the security field that he had just noticed. "What process did you use?" he inquired, matter-of-fact, though the mere words sickened him to the utmost.

For once, he was truly grateful that his vocoder did not pick up every subtle hint of his voice so that, by trying to appear stoic, he did, in fact, sound impassive.

"He is an integral part of the block, my friend." *And he is aware of everything although he doesn't appear to be so. When he will have enough, he knows what to do."

Vader was downright horrified and, for the second time that day, he was grateful for his mask or he would have betrayed his true feelings to the whole galaxy, right there, right then.

He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth while he studied the Jedi-clad youth that was frozen in a standing position, his blue eyes open but completely glazed over and unresponsive. *Luke, son, can you hear me?"

No one answered him.

Palpatine had walked closer to him, as if in close-knitted friendship. *He can only contact me just as I am the only one who can talk to him while he is frozen in there. I'm afraid that the bond that I forged with his mind before freezing him destroyed yours."

Vader bristled further at that even as he took in the gaunt, bloodied and bruised features of his trapped boy. It was obvious that Palpatine had tried the physical methods first, and then had not treated him in any way before resorting to this new form of torture. "How long will he survive like this?" he asked out loud.

"Indefinitely, my friend. He is frozen in transparent carbonite and the transparisteel is moulded around his rigid form. This is as permanent a living display as there can ever be," the Sith master answered, more for the benefit of their billions of witnesses than Vader's.

After all, the Dark Lord knew that he was lying about how, exactly, he had created that kind of enclosure for his young Jedi. Vader gathered that Palpatine didn't want anyone to know how to free the Jedi, not even his trustee right arm.

"After all, we had to preserve him in some way as he is the last of his kind."

* * *

Palpatine watched in mean delight as his servant prowled around the protected '_display_', obviously more than distraught '_and_' convinced that his son was truly imprisoned in the transparent display.

Of course, he had to admit that the result of his latest deceit was perfect as even his Sithling's Jedi robes looked like they were frozen onto his body. There was also a slight distortion effect created by the outer cover of the block that completed the effect so that no one could even consider the possibility of what they were truly seeing.

While he gave his apprentice an extra moment to understand that the boy was completely out of his reach now, Palpatine used that moment to remember his confrontation with the ever-stubborn son just before he had left for the celebration.

* * *

When the thoroughly weakened boy came into view after the embrace finally - as if reluctantly - tipped him back around in a standing position, Palpatine was more than pleased by what he saw.

His slave's endurance was weakening with each passing moment, and his barely-fed body was beginning to show signs of malnutrition - nutrients infiltrations only nourished so much. He was also badly dehydrated – as testified by his chapped lips and thicker blood – and the rest of him was just a sight.

His limbs were also less firm than they used to be and Palpatine could see where his bones had been broken by the embrace's tight hold.

Yet, for all those signs of increasing weakness, there were also multiple bruises where his body met the embrace's surface, which meant that his slave was still finding the will and strength to strain against those unique bonds, tormenting himself further.

Still, even as he was physically wearing him down, he was also chipping away at his self-control so that now, he was truly close to giving into his temper. He just wasn't quite there yet, still managing to hold back even though he wasn't able to reason in any way unless he was allowed to think, and that only happened during his encounters with his master.

Soon, though, even that would be gone from him.

Like usual, Sidious first lowered the setting of the embrace so that it would allow its prisoner to think and interact a little, and then viciously slapped the boy out of his funk.

He felt and heard the boy's cheekbone crack under the impact.

"You look terrible, my friend," he sneered tauntingly. "I suppose this is not a good day to begin your public exhibition, yet there we are already."

Like he had planned, that information completely horrified the beleaguered youth.

"Oh? Did I forget to mention that part of your detention to you?" he jeered callously. "Ah, well, then, better late than never. You see," he explained neutrally, "for the past months, the museum has been preparing a shrine in your father's honor. Now that Lord Vader has destroyed the Rebellion once and for all, I have hastened the final preparations and we will officially open the shrine today. You," he pointed in cruel amusement at the boy's discomfiture, "will be its masterpiece."

He then turned toward the side wall where he had hung a special piece of clothing a few days ago and called it to his hand. The Jedi's eyes, which were already large in disbelief, bulged even further when he stepped closer, holding the trademark clothes of the Jedi.

The intelligent child apparently understood just how he intended to use him and tried to shake his head and recoil from him; he only managed to hurt himself again while wasting more of his dwindling energy.

Palpatine smiled maliciously at his distraught slave even as he touched another manual control on the embrace and the upper tentacle left the boy's neck completely, temporarily exposing his punctured and horribly bruised flesh.

The child coughed at the sudden increase of air intake, and then swallowed as if to relieve his sore neck somehow. His reaction amused the Sith master who directed the still twitching leathery limb to the back of the embrace. There, he locked it in the restraint installed for just that kind of occasion. Like he had expected, the alien struggled briefly in complaint before he stroke it and gave it a small animal to torment and drain with its restrained limb.

He then refocused his attention on his resisting Sithling. "I wish that you could be present for the triumph that I am preparing for his return," he commented mock-amiably while he began to fasten the Jedi disguise over the boy's mangled and bruised body, securing the piece of clothing so that it hid the fact that the rest of him was still held by alien tentacles. "However, you still refuse to embrace the Dark Side of the Force and so, you are still stuck here." He shrugged and he pulled away to admire his handiwork.

Even if the furious youth tried to dislodge his disguise, it was, like him, fastened to the alien's back and with the help of the tentacles that had produced small external spines at the contact of the fabric on them.

That way, the mimicry of the old Jedi robes appeared to wrap around his bruised neck before it fell smoothly down his shoulders and body.

It was just like it should.

"It is an unwise choice, young Sithling," he rebuked him mock-gently, patronizingly tapping his cheek; he knew now how much the boy '_hated_' that kind of condescending attitude, "but it is your choice all the same. I guess you are not merely stubborn but a freak masochist as well," he insulted him next. "But then, with a sadist for a father, perhaps that is not surprising. Besides, our friend here certainly doesn't complain."

As if to prove his point, the visible parts of the tentacles visibly shivered, making the helpless youth bit his lip hard in a new expression of torment.

"Oh yes, she truly likes you. Perhaps it is your blood," he commented, while he patted the disguise some more to make it appear normal even though it was only the front part of the traditional Jedi robes, "or perhaps it's your level of resistance, which she has never savored before." He straightened up and folded his hands in his sleeves while he stepped back to admire his handiwork. "Whatever it is, though, my alien friend here will truly never let you go until you are a devoted Sith servant. Do not be mistaken, little one; she will know exactly when you choose to become my apprentice and devoted servant and, until then, you are 'hers' to torture."

The boy still didn't answer him, not even through the Force, but his eyes burned with resentment and despise.

Disappointed by the lack of intense reaction, he realized that the brat had sadly figured out his intention to corrupt him through his losses of control.

Oh well, he shrugged to himself, it only made the game that much more interesting.

"For today, though," he went on out loud, "there will be a slight change of routine, at least for your body." He petted the sentient creature. "Sorry my friend, but I will give him back in a few hours, I promise."

*You're demented," was the reply he finally heard through the Force, and it both pleased and enraged him.

He reflexively blasted at his slave from point-blank range before he calmed down and remembered the plan of the day.

"Never, ever disrespect me, young Sithling. You will call me Master, and nothing else, or there will be consequences."

*Kiss a -"

Palpatine obliged his new choice for punishment and blasted him with twice the intensity he had just bestowed on him, which the embrace eagerly doubled up while it was still able to draw more pain from its victim.

The boy's reaction did the rest; Sidious maintained the torment for a moment longer, and then interrupted it.

Then, while the boy recovered from this latest attack, Sidious rearranged his disguise, which had slipped slightly during the physical confrontation.

He then studied his slave's general appearance and smiled in anticipation. It would be perfect.

Although he still bore dark bruises from both his time with his father and broken cheek that had swollen since its apparition, the rest of the boy's showing body parts would be perfect for his need.

He would look exactly as if they had tried to break through to him before freezing him in carbonite in the end.

It would also wordlessly teach '_and/or_' remind every one of his subjects the possible cost of defying him.

Turning his attention back to the alien device, he stroked another control on its side and it straightened up until the boy was in a standing position. Palpatine then produced from his pockets the only electronic parts that he hadn't been able to integrate in the alien device.

Stepping closer to the still recovering boy, he pressed one of his two devices to the back of the youth's head and near the nape of his neck, careful to keep it out of sight like the rest of his true predicament. Once he was in position, he pushed as hard as he could against the skin and bone there while his other hand pushed the boy's head hard against the penetrating device.

Those icy blue eyes of his snapped open at the sharp jab of pain and the Sith master was not surprised when he felt the boy try to jerk away from him, to no avail, of course.

Straining slightly against the wiggling Jedi, Sidious repeated the procedure with his second implant.

By the time that he drew away from the furious boy, thin rivulets of blood had sluiced all the way down his longuish hair and neck and were about to stain the otherwise clean Jedi robe.

He quickly swiped the red liquid away, aware that there wouldn't be anymore after this initial bleeding.

He then wiped his hand clean on the boy's exposed right hand. "There, now you really look like a Jedi, my little Sithling. Don't you just love the irony?"

The boy was now incensed at him, but he also refrained from doing more than glare silently at him.

Palpatine decided to test him further. "Let today be a proof that, even if you never turn, you will still serve me as I take advantage of the prize that you represent as I wish."

He gave him a moment to reply, but the child didn't jump on the occasion.

"You will also be right in the middle of the action as those new implants will transport your attention right where I want it. Henceforth, and until you bow to me, from early afternoon to the evening, you will mentally be in your '_display_' in your father's shrine. While in there, you will be sneered at and hear every disobliging comment and curses expressed by my loyal subjects," he pointed out, making sure that it sounded even worst than being left to his despair day after day. "However, while your mind will be so occupied, your body will still remain in the attentive care of my friend here. Yet, unlike how she made you unable to think up to now, your new implants will make sure that wherever your mind is, you will '_always_' feel to the utmost every moment of your extraordinarily organized torment, which will now be more painful than before."

* * *

Luke could only stare in horror, unable to voice his thoughts except in an involuntary gasp of dread. He was so terrified and disgusted by everything that the Sith was hinting at that he almost failed to realize that, for the first time ever, the alien creature had stopped hurting him while he was still conscious.

Of course, that didn't mean that he didn't suffer anymore, far from it, but at least, there was no new pain to increase his current agony.

For now, at least.

I told you already," Palpatine reprimanded him mockingly. "There will be no respite for the rebellious, and I am always true to my word."

The young Jedi clenched his teeth as much as he could - and stopped straining when he felt abnormal pain in his jaw. It, too, was beginning to break up...

The Emperor cackled in mean delight upon noticing his predicament. "You '_are_' mine already, my young Sithling; whereas I have nothing extra to gain from your breaking, you have '_everything_' to gain. Give in to your anger and hatred, I can feel them within you even if you still try to deny them. They are the key to your true powers... To your freedom from my unique pet." He reached up and held his jaw with his right hand, testing his fragile jaw bone further.

Luke hissed and winced but couldn't escape this new pain.

"Think about all that while you still can, my child. We are about to enter the first phase of your torture, and even then, it will be '_but_' the first one. You should also know that there are no limits of levels with the embrace of the Sith."

*The people won't be fooled,' Luke finally Retorted vehemently through the Force. *They'll see that I'm held prisoner and not a mere display.'

* * *

"Oh no, my young apprentice," he answered, leaning closer once again, "The illusion will be so perfect that even Lord Vader will believe that you are truly frozen and displayed in the museum. As for your friends rescuing you, should they aim for the museum, they will fall into my trap and the last of the Rebels will be no more. Any more questions or comments?" he taunted the visibly distraught youth.

When no answer came, not even through the Force, he patted his less-bruised right cheek in contempt. "Good. You are finally learning your place. On with the show, then."

He stepped away and allowed the advanced three-dimensional holorecorder/transmitter to position itself in front of his horrified prize.

He then smirked in satisfaction when he saw the furious blue eyes quickly lose focus, informing him that the implants had taken over his optic nerves, replacing his sight by the transmission that came from within the '_pod_' located in his display at the museum. Meanwhile, the alien device drugged him with a paralyzing agent so that he really looked the part of a '_frozen-in-time_' and beaten Jedi.

Content, he was about to leave when the best part of the day happened. The unaware boy shed uncontrollable tears in reaction to his mental predicament.

Sooner than later, he would break him. Then, and only then, he would be able to rebuild him, also with the help of his wondrous alien tool.

* * *

Back in the present and the presence of his disturbed older servant, Palpatine enjoyed the perfect results of his devilish plan for a moment longer.

By weaving a very particular type of electronic fabric under his Sithling's disguise, and by injecting equally electronic nanobots in the boy's bloodstream, he had ensured that the image of the 'Jedi', and only that of the Jedi and his trademark robe, would be recorded and transmitted through the advanced three-dimensional display device.

The result was truly even more marvelous than he had anticipated, but then, he had asked for perfection from every expert that had been unknowingly involved in his little pet project.

With a last, reluctant gaze at his living masterpiece, he finally invited the tall warrior to follow him out and back to the palace.

After all, there was also a ceremony and reception arranged in a more private setting and his guests would have watched the transmission from the sumptuous ballroom.

Gazing one last time at the three-dimensional, solid-looking hologram of his future right arm, Palpatine chortled in self-satisfaction while he led his group toward the last station of the exhibit. Vader followed a second later, aware that any disobedience from his part while in the public eye would only reflect on his son who could still be tormented through his bond with his master.

Despite the repeated threats, he had truly broken that one well. Vader was not even a real challenge anymore, merely a useful tool and an occasional threat that was easily dealt with.

* * *

Deep in space, where the Millenium Falcon had finally rendezvoused with a few of the remaining Rebel fighters pilots and the only transport ship that had cleared the trap, Leia, Han, Wedge, Chewie and Lando all sat in horror in front of the holonet screen where their friends had been displayed and executed in public.

Then, if that hadn't been enough, they had followed the Imperials inside the museum and, if not for Leia's insistence that they watched the whole broadcast, just in case, they would have never learnt what had become of their Jedi friend.

"Luke..." Leia gasped and, holding her hand over her mouth as if she would be sick, turned away from the disgusting exhibition. She couldn't watch, she just couldn't-

"The bastard," Han grumbled after uttering several incomprehensible curses.

"Can anyone be more mentally deranged than that old bat?"

"Ssssh, they're talking about the installation," Wedge silenced them and increased the sound volume.

"He is frozen in transparent carbonite and the transparisteel is moulded around his rigid form. This is as permanent a living display as there can ever be," the tyrant was saying on the screen.

"What about the security installation?" Han asked, already focusing on a rescue plan. "Did anyone catch the details?"

"They didn't mention that much, General. They only pointed out that he couldn't escape or be rescued."

"As long as I'm alive, there will be hope for Luke," he growled in answer and turned off the offending sight of their captive friend. "Who's with me?"

Not surprisingly, everyone present volunteered, or at least everyone except Leia, who was still lost in her thoughts and disbelief.

"Then let's get started on gathering intel," Han commented. "Lando, activate your underworld network. We need the plans of that exhibition and the security surrounding Luke. Wedge, you and the boys find us a new base so that we can fix our ships properly."

"Will do, Sir," Wedge smirked and snapped a jaunty salute before he moved to leave.

"Actually," Leia's voice cut in while she turned back toward the meeting table, "I have a suggestion."

* * *

When Leia saw what had been done to her dear and gentle friend, she felt as if she was going to throw up right there, right then. He had looked so broken, so… defeated... And the idea that he was now nothing more than-

Her stomach heaved again and she turned away from everyone and everything, unable to watch the holovid anymore.

Luke, her dear Luke, her brother in every way but by blood... What had they done to him? Was he still alive? And if so, would they ever be able to free him from that… that new form of suffering?..

While she had told Han that losing the bulk of the Alliance's leadership, troops, ships and resources had been like losing Alderaan all over again, seeing Luke still alive and in such horrific conditions was tantamount to... to her mother's death, her real mother's.

Back then, she had felt abandoned to her fate, with no one to truly relate to anymore, and that was how she felt once again. Her confident, her best friend... Her rock when Han had been missing…

'Luke,' she sobbed and lowered her chin to her chest in despair. 'I'm sorry… I'm so sorry I ever drew you into this conflict...'

*Luke would have gotten involved, one way or another, your Higness,' a male voice answered her, but it wasn't her friend's.

It wasn't a voice she remembered hearing either, and yet… She looked up- and started at the impossible sight of an old man standing in front of her, his form washed out as if from a blue light that instantly soothed her soul.

'Who are you?' she thought silently, uncomfortable to speak out loud and appear crazy in front of the others.

'My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi, your Highness. We never actually met but I was a friend of both of your parents'.'

'My father spoke very highly of you, General Kenobi,' she answered, gratitude instantly filling her heart as she remembered everything that the great Jedi master had done for her home planet before the Empire.

*Bail Organa was always a strong supporter of the Jedi, but I was referring to your true parents, Leia. I trained your father as a Jedi, and he and I shared many adventures with your then-unbeknown mother.'

'My father? A... A Jedi? But I'm not-'

*You are, Leia. Like your father, the Force runs strong in you, just as it runs strong in… in your twin brother.'

Leia gaped in disbelief even as the answer became obvious to her the moment that the word 'brother' was pronounced. 'Luke? Luke truly is my brother? As in with the same parents?'

*Yes, and he needs your help now. In fact, both him and your father do.'

'My real father is alive?!'

*Yes,' Obi-Wan sighed heavily. *Like Luke, he is Palpatine's prisoner.' A silence stretched between them. *You must go to Dagobah and train with Jedi Master Yoda. You are our only hope, as well as Luke's only hope.'

'Dabogah?' Leia gaped in confusion while the ghost disappeared before her very eyes. But where was that?

She refocused her hearing on the ongoing conversations and caught Han's order to Wedge.

'What an excellent timing,' she smiled thinly in regards to the ghost's words even as she turned her seat back toward the table and stood up. "Actually, I have a suggestion."

* * *

When the lights of the cell turned off once again and that Luke was allowed to recover his direct senses, he was instantly tipped back in an inverted position, his covering falling off him while the alien creature resumed tormenting him in earnest.

He then heard something leathery shift, gasped when the fallen robe was forcefully ripped away from him, uncovering his head that had become smothered by the rough fabric moment before.

He had barely registered and understood what had happened that the unwelcome weight of the previously-removed tentacle as it not only recovered its place across his sore neck and throat, but it even seemed to reassert its possession of him by holding him even tighter than before. However, much to Luke's puzzlement, it didn't strangle him anymore than before, but it did dig its hated spines deeper into his skin and jugulars.

In less time than ever, his body was once again afire from within while all his previous torments resumed right where they had been left off.

Then, while all the thorns and pincers that were permanently part of his body now – or so it felt to him – wiggled painfully inside his unhealing wounds, grating against fragile bones and further tearing into muscles and tendons, he also felt the burn of a thin and extremely sharp blade pierce his right shoulder.

He jumped in spite of himself, and then hissed silently when he felt something grab the edge of his injury and pull of a flap of skin, or so it felt to him.

He confirmed it next when the blade slid onward against his skin but under the torn skin.

It would have been painful enough just on its own, but with the pain enhancers that once again suffused his body, it was beyond agony.

He bore it as best as he could, but his patience was wearing thinner every day. Worse, he still retained his freedom of reaction - if he could call it that - but he couldn't think anymore and thus, control himself.

His only grip on himself was his innate refusal to become like his father, whom he now hated with everything that he still had.

Nothing else mattered anymore.

By the time that Palpatine '_deigned_' show up for his daily visit, the blade had managed to remove the first layer of skin of each and every one of his remaining patches of uninjured flesh. Now, not only did he suspect that he looked as if he had been burnt by too long an exposure under Tatooine's suns, but the mere air around him constantly tormented him.

When Luke was finally able to open his eyes and look at his jailor, he really cringed in dread at the horrifying sight of the activated torture droid and its neuronic whip.

Would this nightmare ever end?..

* * *

TBC

Well? How was that? What did you think of Palpatine's plans and strategies to break Luke's will? Did you like the exhibition dedicated to Vader? (Okay, I admit that the SW: Identities exhibition greatly influenced me on that one ;P) How did you like Vader's reaction to Luke's display? And how about Leia's own situation? Hmmm, I'm not going to ask about Luke's... we all want to give him a big, big Wookiee hug, don't we :) Anyway, I hope you continued to have fun despite the horribly mean twists of that new part :)

Have a great week everyone, and remember, reviews are very precious gifts all year long Moreover, they can incite me to be lenient ASAP with Luke and give him a reprieve... or will I ;P

P.s. : By the way, sorry about the ' ' around the italicized words, but it was either leave them there and post this week, or erase them before posting and not update before another month at least... I am already one month later than I expected to be ready for this update... I figured that updating the stories was more important for you than the ' '. Was I right?

While you enjoy the new updates, I will finish the edition and remove the ' ', don't worry ;P


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